


Defying the Future

by Dareagon



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Time Travel, merman!Naru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2017-12-13 04:08:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/819793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dareagon/pseuds/Dareagon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the final battle, Naruto is send back in time. He is once again a genin. but he's not the only one who travelled back... Will he be able to change things for the better? Kakanaru, Naruto with bloodline merboy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Chapter 1: prologue

 

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

"Human Talking"

'Human Thinking'

" **Demon Talking"**

' **Demon Thinking'**

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

He was sure of it. Dying sucked! Naruto had come close to doing just that a couple of times now. Before, however, he had always fought it. Fought it and won. Now he didn't see the need to do so. He had thought of his precious people and had found the strength to go on. But the last of them laid next to him, one already dead and the other soon to follow. He would be left all alone. So why fight it?

Slowly, he looked at the two by his side. The (truly) last Uchiha, Sasuke, laid at his right side. His brother was already dead. He reached out to the raven and grabbed his hand. Sasuke had been his first friend and only brother. He frown and turned his head.

At his other side laid the Kazekage of Suna, Gaara, of whom he had been the first friend to. He smiled grimly. The redhead was dying, just like him, only Gaara seemed a bid ahead of him. The older boy gripped the blonde's sleeve, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Let go." whispered Naruto softly. "I'll be following you soon."

Gaara smiled tiredly and closed his eyes.

In the end, they had won. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were gone and Naruto hoped that after this battle, the war would be over. But whichever way the future went, Naruto had chosen his path. He had known that he would die. He knew of the effects Kyuubi's chakra had on him. Using a little of it was already painful for the blond and the more he used, the more the pain grow. And his bloodline was only making things worse. That was why Kyuubi would take over… to spare the blonde that pain. But today he had to use so much chakra that he was burning from the inside. Well he didn't know that, but it sure as hell felt like it!

Kyuubi didn't like it. His kit was … not himself. He was giving up. But the fox wasn't stupid, he knew why. Just two days ago, the blonde's mate had died. He had been the last of Naruto's friends to pass away and it had crushed him. Kyuubi understood, but that didn't mean he liked it.

" **Kit, what do you think you're doing?"**

'Dying.'

" **I noticed."** said Kyuubi dryly. **"So, you're going to die? Just like that?"**

'What do you want me to do about it? You're the one thousand year-old demon here, not me. You figure it out. Besides, even if you could heal me, I wouldn't let you.'

" **And why is that?"**

'I'm sick and tired of being alone. Everyone's dead and it's not like you could bring them back.'

Kyuubi set his thousand-year-old brain at work to find a solution to this.

' **There has to be a solution… I know there was something … What was it… Got it!'**

" **I know something that just might work… Hang on tight!"**

Again, Naruto felt red chakra envelop him and again it hurt like the blazes. He was already weak and dying from the battle. What was that old fox thinking?! He gladly welcomed the darkness that blinded his senses and fell unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2: redoing the team-assignment

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP !

Naruto grunted annoyed. He wanted to sleep! He was vaguely aware that it was his alarms clock that was making the noise, when he hit it. The noise stopped. Naruto signed and rolled over. Sleepy …

BAM!

That hurted! Frowning he finally opened his eyes. His bed was supposed to be bigger than that. Hmmm … strange. What was his old jumpsuit doing on the floor? He hadn't worn that one since his training trip with Jiraiya 5 years ago. What the hell?

…  
Wait a sec … Wasn't he supposed to be … elsewhere?

'Seems I have to help out…' signed Kyuubi. 'Welcome back to your twelve year old self! By the way … congratulations on becoming a genin just yesterday!'

'Say what!' screamed Naruto. 'How? Why?'

'You should be tanking me. Now you can start over again.'

Naruto was fully awake now. He looked around. It was indeed his old apartment. It felt strange since he had lived with Kakashi for two years now. At that instant, it hit him. Kakashi and all his friends were still alive here! He didn't have the same relationships yet but it would grow with time. Damn, he had to make Kakashi notice him all over again! He grinned. Good thing he knew the man's weak points. He had to visit Gai one of these days … Mwahahahaha!

'The evil laugh doesn't suit you' commented the fox.

'Spoilsport. Let a man dream!'

'Cough-boy-cough.'

Naruto decided to ignore the fox from here on. He sat up and looked around. He saw his calendar and walked over. It seemed he would meet his team today. He smiled. He would make sure that this time everything would go fine! But first, he was going to take a bath! If he really was back … did that mean that his bloodline was sealed again? Only one way to find out. He walked towards the bathroom and filled the tub with water. He undressed and went into the water. When noting happened, he sighed frustrated. He got out and stood before the mirror, but he stood so that his back faced the mirror. He focused his chakra and a seal became visible. It was different from the seal on his stomach. It was situated on his low back, just above his butt. He could clearly see it when he looked over his shoulder. Hmmm … better leave it be for the time being. It could cause him trouble if he released it to soon. Especially if the old man Hokage wasn't notified. He sat back in the water.

Ohw, he sooo enjoyed his time in the water! It always helped him relax. He grinned when he remembered how Kashi used to react at seeing him in this form. The jounin always seemed more … motivated, if that was already possible being the pervert he is.

When he finally came out of the bath, he noticed he was running out of time. He dressed himself and ran of towards the Academy. When he entered the classroom, he was deep in thought.

'Should I act like an idiot again? It would be safer that way, but how will I make Kakashi notice me like that? He'll only hate me more…'

'Maybe you can slowly drop your mask. That way they'll only notice when it already happened and everyone will think you grew up.'

'Brilliant!'

'Yeah, sometimes I wonder what you would do without me…' grinned the fox playfully.

'I only play the complete idiot! It's not like I am stupid!'

'Sure.'

This time Naruto sat at the back of the class, far away from Sasuke. Not that he didn't like the boy, but he still remembered that kiss … Brrrr. He considered Sasuke his best friend and brother (especially after he came back from sound after 6 years) but he liked to avoid this mess. Especially if he also avoided trouble with Sasuke's fan club.

When Iruka-sensei came in and started his speech, Naruto played his role perfectly. Cheering when he was grouped with Sakura and shouting angrily when Sasuke was named.

He spends lunch alone and while he was waiting for Kakashi, he pretended to be asleep. But in fact, he was talking to Kyu.

'Say, I'll keep the mask of the class clown, but I'm going to drop the wanting to be Hokage part. What do you think?'

'Might as well. It's not as if being Hokage was your dream. It was his way to succeed your dream: acknowledgement. You do know it's going to be hard for you don't you?'

'Hard? You say that as if I'm going to jump Kashi the second I see him!' said Naruto indignant.

'Like you won't have trouble stopping yourself!' laughed the fox.

'I won't! … At least not as much as you say I will!' mentally Naruto stuck out his tongue.

He could hear the Kyuubi laugh at him. Stupid fox…

Kakashi was, as always, late. Normally Naruto wouldn't care. He knew the Jounin went to the monument to pay his respects to his dead teammates, but today he wished the man would hurry. It felt like forever since he had seen the other!

When Kakashi finally came in, Naruto had to restrain himself. He didn't say a word and kept his mouth shut. If he would open it, he would or yell something stupid like your sleeping on the couch tonight or burst in tears and hug the man.

…

Yep, better shut up.


	3. Chapter 3: the genin test

Great, here he was. On the roof of the academy, listening to Sakura's giggling when she told them about herself. Sigh. How long would it take her this time to outgrow the fangirl mode she seemed stuck in? Next Sasuke got into his emo-brooding mode and then it was his turn.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! My likes are ramen, training and my friends. I don't like people who judge others without knowing them and my dream is to reunite with the person I love and protect all my precious people!" as he thrust his arm in the air to make his point clear.

He congratulated himself when he noticed Kakashi looked up from his book to stare at him. It only lasted a second but it was more then enough. It took miracles to get Kakashi's attention once he was ready. Pervert…

Kakashi then explained the next part of the genin test. And Naruto promised himself he would act like he had in the past … Wait, that's not right. Would it be the future? Since it's only happening tomorrow … Hmmm, Dilemma.

The next day.

Naruto sat in his bathroom. He had still an hour before his team meeting, four before his sensei would arrive. Time to go see the old man! He grabbed his jumpsuit and put it on.

'Memo to myself: do something about the jumpsuit! It's ridiculous!'

Then he hurried to the Hokage tower. He ran past the guards and bursted into the office of the Sandaime.

"Hey, old man! I need to talk to you!"

The Sandaime sighed when he saw who it was.

"What do you want now, Naruto?"

"Say, say. I have this strange tattoo thingy on my back. I know it's not Kyuubi's, because That one is on my tummy! So what is it?"

Now, he was bouncing trough the office.

'Unbelievable… Was I really this stupid?'

'Don't worry, kit. It seems as if you never stopped!'

'Hey!'

The old man, on the other hand looked stunned. Another seal? Why didn't he know of that?

"Naruto, could you show me that seal?"

"Sure thing!"

The blonde took of his jacket and top and stood with a bare chest before the Hokage. He turned around and focused his chakra. The Hokage now stood behind him and studied the seal.

"So what is it?"

"I never saw a seal like this. I'm not a seal master but from what I can tell it's used to seal water. Strange…"

"Could it be a bloodline limit?" Naruto decided to give the man a push in the good direction.

"I don't think so. Your parents didn't have any."

…

"You knew my parents? Who are they, why did they leave me?" asked Naruto quietly.

No one had ever answered these questions for him. Did the Sandaime know? Why hadn't he told him? The old man looked cornered.

"I'll tell you about them some other time. Now, this seal. I'm going to release it."

"Fine." Pouted Naruto.

The Hokage focused his chakra in the seal. Naruto frowned when he felt the seal burn itself into his skin. It hurt dammit! Now it looked like a tattoo (duh) in the way that it was permanent. Otherwise nothing happened. Naruto played the disappointed boy.

"Oh man, nothing happened!" he whined.

"Well, maybe it is for the best." Smiled the old man.

Naruto grinned when he made his way to the training ground. He made a Kage Bushin and send his clone towards his teammates. He hided further away. He still remembered the lake that he fell in after Kakashi's a thousand years of pain. Elegantly he dived into the water. The change was instantly. Blue streaks appeared in his hair, his hair grew longer (think Yondaime) he felt himself growing. And last but not least, his legs disappeared to be replaced by a beautiful blue tail. He conjured a mirror of ice and looked at himself. He now looked as old as he was before he went back in time. The baby fat had disappeared and so had his whiskers. He grinned, knowing that the Sandaime had done a good job. He turned around and looked over his shoulder. The seal was still visible on his back and had a blue-green color. Naruto laughed. It was good to be able to freely swim like this. Then something gained his attention. His clone just fell into the water. Had that much time already passed? He wend closer to the surface without taking the chance of being seen. Indeed there was Kakashi and his stupid book. He watched the rest of the fight.

'Say, do I really look that stupid when I act like that?'

'Yes, you do!'

'I've got to get rid of that mask as soon as possible. Hey Kyu…?'

'What?' asked the demon annoyed.

'Could you hang another memo out? I can't forget to tell the old man that I have a bloodline.'

'Don't even think of hanging another one, this place full with memo's! Besides why would you need to tell him?'

'Because when he finds out, and believe me he will, He'll think I don't wash or something…'

'Fine.' Sighed the fox lazily.

'Thanks! Now lets see, where are they?'

Naruto looked up, but he could only see his clone, tight up and alone.

'Hahahahaha! They left you again! Hilarious!'

'So funny.' Said Naruto sarcastic. 'You know, you have a strange sense of humor.'

'I know, you keep reminding me.'

'Well I might as well dispel that clone. I still don't think it's nice of them to leave me like that…' pouted Naruto while he got rid of his clone. ' Hmmm, now what do I do?'

'Well, I have some memos sticking on the wall here. Want to know what's on them?'

'Sure, but you really did that?' asked Naruto stunned.

'No, I didn't. I just have a bigger brain capacity (It's not like you have any.) and memorized it.' Said Kyuubi dryly. Sweatdrop.

'Ok, so what are the possibilities?'

'Hokage or shopping for a new wardrobe.'

'Hmmm, Hokage first, then the shopping. I'm broke so maybe the old man can give me some from my allowance from next month!'


	4. Chapter 4: Secrets unfold!

"Ah, Naruto, you're just on time!" said the Third enthusiastic.

"How come? I didn't know you asked for me." Said Naruto confused.

"I didn't, but I seriously need a break." He laughed at a pile of papers. Naruto sweat dropped.

"So," continued the old man," I heard from Kakashi you officially became a genin. Congratulations."

"Thanks. However, I actually came with a good reason this time. I found out what the seal is for."

"Ah, so it's not just decoration after all." Said the Sandaime thinking

Naruto didn't commented. Not out loud at least.

'Well, duh! Why would it be there if it didn't do anything! Are you stupid?!'

'No but you are. He can't hear you so tone it down already! I can understand you perfectly without all the screaming!'

'Sorry.' Naruto mentally rubbed the back of his head while grinning sheepishly.

"What happened?"

"Well, during the test 8 fell, for some mysterious reason, in the water. What happened next shocked me. At first, I didn't know what to do, but once that was over, I send a shadow clone back up to deal with the rest of the test. I don't think even Kakashi-sensei noticed."

"What happened that shocked you that bad?" asked the old man in full grandfather mode a.k.a. concerned).

"I changed … it's difficult to explain."

"Could you show me?"

"Sure, but I would need to be in water though

"We can arrange that. I guess you don't want the others to find out about this?"

"If possible. I'll tell my team eventually, but not yet. I already have to deal with the villagers, I don't want my team start doing the same…"

"Is it that bad?"

"Not really but it's difficult to call me human…"

"Hmm… Well, let's go to your apartment so I can see what you mean. We can take measures afterwards."

Naruto smiled gratefully at the man.

"That's fine, but I wanted to ask you something first: Could I already get my allowance for the next month, you know from the orphan fund. I want to go by some new clothes."

The Hokage prepared an envelop with the money.

"Here, have this and you still can come back to get your money for next month."

"You don't need to do that, old man!" shouted Naruto embarrassed. "I'm a genin now. I'll be taking missions and stuff. I'll make my own money. I don't want charity."

"It's not charity. See it as a present, because there is a condition."

"Thanks, but what condition?"

"Nothing orange!"

Naruto pouted while snickering to himself. Okay, maybe to Kyuubi too. Anyway, he never had any intention of buying anything orange.

"Now let's get going."

Naruto led the Hokage to his apartment. He grinned as he noticed the old man talked to various people on the way. He really seemed to hate his paperwork. Once in his apartment he led the stunned man to his bathroom. Hey, he couldn't help it that people thought his place was a mess. It seemed the Hokage himself hadn't noticed he wore a mask most of the time. No wonder he was so surprised. In his bathroom, he began to fill the tub with water again. He undressed until he only wore his boxers.

"It's easier like this, because my clothes tend to get wet otherwise." He said when he saw Sarutobi raise an eyebrow. The old man nodded and Naruto stepped in the water. While he felt the changes occur, he heard a gasp. It seemed that whatever the man had been expecting, this wasn't it. Hesitantly he looked at the man. Relieve washed over him when he saw the awe in the man's eyes. Thank Kami for that. Not that he wanted to be admired ( he was riling at the idea of a fan club) but the man' s reaction could have been worse. Much worse…

"S what do you think?"asked the blonde nervous.

The old man came out of his stupor and smiled brightly.

"You're cute!"

Okay, … So now it was Naruto's turn to expect something and get something very different in the place.

"PERVERT!" shouted the startled boy.

"Come, come, don't be that way. I don't mean it wrong. You look good, even with the tail."

"You think? I mean, you're not disgusted or something?" Naruto looked so hopeful that it hurt the man. Not that he planned to lie to the blonde but the fact that he thought that reaction was the normal one …

"Of course not! like I said, you look cute. But I can understand, it's not something people see every day. It's okay tough. But I'm going to make this an S-classed secret. So only, you and I can tell people about it. And I won't do that until you tell me it' s okay. Got that?"

"Hai!"

"So is there something else you discovered?"

The blond-blue haired teen nodded and lifted his hand from the water. The water in the palm of it changed size and formed into a rose. Then Naruto froze it and gave it to the Hokage.

"A bloodline then … Very interesting."

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Oi, dobe."

Naruto sighed irritated. Today just wasn't his day. He hadn't slept due to his training. This morning Kyuubi had woken him up, so he was very grumpy. (The fox was trying to find ways to get Naruto up as fast as possible. His techniques were what Naruto didn't approve off.)he also knew all they would do today was weeding, babysitting or chasing cats. Damn those D-rank missions! And now here he was, standing by the bridge on their team-meeting point. And of course, Sasuke had to decide that today was the day on which he would open his mouth! "What do you want, teme?"

The raven observed him frowning slightly. He was obviously debating with himself. What was he trying to force here? Naruto frowned too. He was concerned. Even tough this Sasuke wasn't his brother-figure, he still could become that person. The raven seemed to have decided whatever it was he was doubting about. A self-assured look entered his eyes as he looked at Naruto.

"Dobe, how's Kyu doing?" he asked causally.

However, Naruto froze.


	5. Chapter 5: journey to the Wave.

This wasn't possible. Sasuke didn't know of Kyuubi! At least, not yet! What was happening here?

"How did you …?"

"You weren't very subtle. I expected better from the guy who hided his true self for over fifteen years. You changed to much. But I had to make sure, so I confronted you. When did you die?" said Sasuke casually.

"About a month ago." Said Naruto who was still in shock.

"So, when did you arrive?"

"The day the teams were announced. You?"

"Two months before graduating from the academy."

They looked at each other. Naruto still couldn't believe that this was Sasuke, his brother and not Sasuke the brooding jerk.

Then the raven smilled softly.

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

And with that Naruto launched himself at the other boy and hugged him. Sasuke had smiled, realy smiled and Naruto was convinced that this was indeed his brother. Like the old Sasuke would ever smile like that! No way, that guy only smirked and groaned. Another thing that convinced him was that Sasuke didn't flinch or move away from the hug, no the boy hugged him back. Not much, and not as dramatic as Naruto had, but still …

Of course just then Sakura arrived.

"Naruto no baka! Let go of Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto smiled softly and moved away, his mask completely forgotten. Sasuke, as usual, glared at the girl.

"We'll talk later." He said softly.

Naruto nodded. He had so many questions for his friend. Oh, and he shouldn't forget to order his new clothes.

In the meanwhile, Sakura kept on screaming. (this won't be a Sakura-bashing, but I can't stand her in fan girl mode. She'll grow out of it!) she said things like him (Naruto) not being worthy of Sasuke-kun's attention. Sasuke would never be friends with him (Naruto)! Not if he could start something with her (Sakura) that didn't have to stay with friendship. Not that it would … Enter a lot of giggling at this point. Oh, and during her monolog she managed to ask Sasuke for a date. Bla bla

Nothing new under the sun. She was still busy when Kakashi arrived and she was the only one to scream at her for being late. The silver-haired man raised an eyebrow when he saw Sasuke and Naruto exchange looks instead. Sasuke seemed to ask something and Naruto blushed. Strange … especially since they didn't use any words. They spoke (if you can call it that) in Sasuke-language. Which resolved to various groan's and Hn's. strange indeed … but also very interesting. He didn't knew the boys knew each other so well and were (obviously) friends. How had he missed it?

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Today was just the perfect day for Naruto.

…

If you don't hear the sarcasm this line will help you understand.

First came all the reason's he had been grumpy this morning. Okay, it had been good news that Sasuke had somehow managed to travel here too, but still. Chasing the same cat you spend chasing your whole genin-days, is irritating! And that monster still picked on him too. When they made their way to the Hokage to receive their payment Naruto stood full of scratches! And then, as if his days wasn't miserable enough, the old man wanted them to continue with these lame missions? NO WAY!

"Come on, old man, can't we at least get a C-rank mission?" whined Naruto.

Good thing he remembered today was the day they originally were assigned to protect Tazuna, the bridge builder.

The Hokage sighed while Naruto got yelled at by Iruka (imagine the terrifying big head).

"Naruto is right, these missions aren't worth my time." Said Sasuke, shocking everyone in the room.

Sasuke, off all people, who hated the blonde since day one, agreed with the blonde and made sure others were aware of that?

Naruto just smiled, while nodding.

"Are you going to drop it?" he asked grinning.

"Sure, I'm sick and tired of pretending. But the same goes for you, agreed?"

"Fine with me. I never thought the broody an avenger-type suited you!"

"Don't worry. The role of idiot was perfect for you."

"HEY!"

What the hell were they talking about? (well, of course we know! But this is the general thought of everyone else in the room) and besides, since when did the two of them act like that? Well they always insulted each other, but this time there was no Naruto trying to strangle the raven ... Is the world going to end today?

"Tone it down, both of you." Said the Hokage frustrated.

"Hai." They said in sync.

" Now, where was I?" asked the old man confused.

Naruto decided to help him out. Hehe.

"You were just going to assign us a better mission."

"Of course." Said the man with twinkling eyes. "Well, Kakashi, what do you think? Are these brats ready for it?"

Ignoring the angry shouts from the blonde, the Copy-nin just smiled his one-eye smile.

The Hokage chuckled.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Hey, do you mind if I walk with you?" asked Naruto. "I'd like to talk a bit. I'll sent a shadow clone to pack my stuff."

"Hn." Nodded Sasuke.

"Cool."

Naruto grinned, making a familiar hand sign. Two clones puffed into existence.

"Me to the right! You go get my stuff ready for the mission. The other me is going to order my new clothes!" he screamed exitedly.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow but didn't comment.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Random things; like how did you get here and can you already use your sharingan?"

"You call those random? You realy do your mask honor by acting so stupid." Muttered the raven. "But, anyway, I have no idea how I came here. After … you know, I just woke up in my bed, here. And yes, I can use it. So how did you get here and can you use your limit?"

(I still need to find a name for Naruto's bloodlimit! Any suggestions?)

"Kyu arranged it. I came the same way you did. And yes, I too can use my limit. The old man unsealed it and I showed him what it does. It's classed S-rank, you know, so no telling to anyone."

"You know I won't." grunted Sasuke.

Naruto laughed."Oh, right. You only talk when your around me! Well here you do anyway."

They arrived at the Uchiha district and Naruto helped Sasuke pack his things.

"So, what do you plan to do now? You know, about Haku…"

"I won't let him die again, if that's what you mean. Aside from the fact that he could be family, I always believed that had we met in other circumstances we would have been friends. I want to give that theory a shot."

"I thought you'd say something like that. Well, fine with me. But that means we got some planning to do."

"Include a living Zabuza if you can too. Neither needed or deserved to die.

"Hn."

"There, you're at it again! Try to articulate. You did a great job so far!"

"Dobe," sighed Sasuke. "We should get going. We are running out of time."

"Like we're going to be late with Kakashi there!"

"Speaking of which, what are you planning to do about him? You're only twelve now. Do you think he'll still want to start something with you?"

"I hope so. I still feel the same so I'm going to give it a shot. I wanted to slowly drop my mask, but now technicly I don't have to. If I start acting different, you are there to back me up when hey get suspicious. Say something like: He's always been that way. You just weren't looking. Or something … Besides, in the water I'm still twenty.

They both stopped talking as they arrived at the meeting point.

"Here we go again." Said Naruto soflty.

Sasuke grunted in agreement.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

And they were off. Kakashi was as always solemnly focused on his perverted book. Sakura was asking questions about Wave Country and their sensei was obliged to actually look up from his book to answer her. Tazuna had a – subtle, but non the less- nervous breakdown. Sasuke was observing their environment and Naruto relaxed while walking. At his waist, hung a little gourd filled with water. He always used to wear one. It was handy, especially in battle to have water at a ready. He didn't want to use it against the two demon brothers but he wanted Haku to see that he could use it like he can.

The meeting with the demon brothers was the same as before. The details were different tough. Sasuke's move's were gracefull and spoke of years of on the other hand didn't freeze up, but switched places with a shadow clone before getting hurt. But the end result was the same.

When they stopped for the night, Sasuke and Naruto discussed (privately of course) their plans for the upcoming fight. They disided that Naruto had to use his limit so Haku would approach him later on. Of course that way, Kakashi and Sakura would know too, but since they weren't going to see his merboy-form Naruto was okay with it.

So when Naruto shot a Kunai the next day and all they could find was a bunny, both boys thought:

'It's showtime!'


	6. Chapter 6: Momochi Zabuza

There he was, Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the mist, in all his glory. He stood on his sword which he had swung towards team 7 and was now stuck in a tree.

"Copycat Kakashi." Stated the mist nin.

"Momochi Zabuza." Answered their sensei.

Next they tried to intimidate each other with smart talk. About what they could do and what they had done.

'Oh, so scary.' Thought Naruto sarcastic.

'Terrifying.' Added Kyuubi dry.

The genin surrounded Tazuna, while Zabuza disappeared into the mist he created with his jutsu. He reappeared between them without making a sound, ready to slice Tazuna in two. In a flash, Kakashi was there. Then both Jounin started to play with water clones, that is until Kakashi landed in the lake to be imprisoned in a water prison.

(A.N.: I didn't go into detail for this part, because it's practically the same as in the original.)

When Kakashi told them to run, they refused. Well Sasuke and Naruto did, Sakura didn't answer. Zabuza created an other water clone to deal with the annoying pests, as he called the three genin. Naruto and Sasuke grinned at that. Just as they had expected! Now they just had to follow the rest of the plan. Sasuke quietly talked to Sakura and attacked the bunshin head on. Sakura assisted him by throwing kunai and shuriken towards the clone. Naruto closed his eyes, stayed where he was and was seemingly doing noting. Sasuke threw some katon jutsu's at the clone, completely ignoring the real Zabuza. Everyone was focusted on the fight, except Naruto, who still hadn't opened his eyes. Then the raven engaged a Taijutsu fight, since he thought this to be Zabuza's weak point.

"I mean, who goes caring around a sword like that? I'm sure it's the kind of weapon that doesn't have any moves to go with. You just swwing it around and hope you hit someone in the progress. Besides from what I remember, Zabuza didn't use any taijutsu for as far we could see, while he was clearly proud of his ninjutsu!" Naruto said earlier.

The kid really wasn't stupid! He only acted like it, for Kami's sake.

Also had Sauke thought to himself, if this fight would purely be close combat then the missing nin would have the space to swing his sword around. It was perfect! They only had forgotten one thing: they were genin here. Both had trained to regain their past strength, but they were no where near how powerful they had been. They had made a mistake: they had underestimated the ninja.

Sasuke normally would have been able to defeat at least the clone, but since that wasn't what he was aiming for, he had some troubles. He needed to buy Naruto more time. He looked at his friend and was distracted for a second. This was enough for the clone. In one move he hit Sasuke onto the ground and stomped him in the ribs. Sasuke spit blood from the impact.

"Hey!" screamed Naruto suddenly.

Sasuke sighed relieved. Finally the dobe was ready. He hadn't thought it would take the blonde this long. but then again they had underestimated Zabuza. Or had they overestimated themselves? Sure seemed like it.

Of course, thanks to his outburst, Naruto had gained everyone's attention. They were stunned when they noticed his eyes glowed a clear color of blue. The blonde walked towards Sasuke and the clone and stretched his arm. Palm faced to Zabuza and his fingers stretched. Then he made a fist and the water bunshin exploded., turning back into water. Everyone, except Sasuke was shocked. Their eyes nearly popped out of their head when Naruto relaxed his hand again and the water rose from the ground to circle around him.

Naruto grinned. Their plan had been simple. Sasuke had distracted everyone and given Naruto the time to infuse his chakra into the clone so he could gain control over it. It was easy, it just took some time.

Now, he turned towards where Kakashi and the real Zabuza were. His palm now faced the ground and the water sped of towards the water prison. But it didn't stop there, it seemed as if it was absorbed by Zabuza's prison. It disappeared into the rest of the water. Naruto closed his eyes in concentration and slowly began closing his hand again. Zabuza began trembling as he tried to keep control. At the last second he dropped the jutsu and it exploded non the less.

The missing nin started to make handsigns and Naruto summoned the water back to him. Just in time. To the others it seemed as if Naruto had been hit by Zabuza's water dragon, but once the water had washed away, they saw Naruto standing in the middle of something that resembled the water prison Kakashi had been in. The only difference was: this one was made of ice! Naruto cleaned the sweat of his forehead and sighed. That had been a close one. He made a movement with his hand and the ice melted, turning into water again. Then Kakashi took the fight back over.


	7. Chapter 7: Dream

Naruto grinned happily. Sasuke, on the other hand, eyed him suspiciously. Both boys were carrying their sensei towards Tazuna's house. When Naruto saw the raven-haired boy look at him and tried to look innocently. Seeing as Sasuke began to frown, he didn't by it. Okay, so what if he was … groping wasn't the term he would use, but yeah … If he was honest that was exactly what he was doing. But it sounded wrong, especially since Kakashi was unconscious. But, at least he did it subtly. Sasuke was just suspicious, it wasn't as if he had seen him doing so. Hehe. Besides, he couldn't do much since Sakura was subtly staring at him. He knew she would start questioning him as soon as she had time to think this over.

He would worry about that later, he had other things to pounder about now. Haku, for example. He had felt the boy stare at him while Kakashi had checked to see if Zabuza was still alive. Of course this time around, Naruto hadn't been screaming like an idiot, he had just stared back at the masked boy. Haku had taking Zabuza to somewhere. Kami knows where. Not that he wanted to know, he would meet the boy later. He was curious. Very curious. He really hoped Haku was in some way family. He knew that he had family: Sasuke and all his other friends in the future. And of course Kashi … But right now, only Sasuke could count. But still, it wasn't the same. He wanted real family, bounded by blood. Sasuke was his brother, and always would be. But he could always use a second brother. He was sure Haku could use some family aside from Zabuza and Sasuke … Well, when Naruto had mentioned the possibility, he didn't seem to mind that much. He was sure Sasuke could use some more family too.

Naruto smiled as they entered the village. He had always liked it here. It looked peaceful and he always felt good when he was around a lot of water. Of course, the last time he had been here he hadn't know about his blood limit, since it was still sealed. Later he had decided to call it Umi no Hikari.( Light of the Ocean – Thank you FumetsuKaji for the helping me out with this!)

They arrived at Tazuna's house and the old man led them inside. They were introduced to Tsunami and Inari, Tazuna's daughter and his grandson. Tsunami showed them the room where Kakashi would stay and the boys laid the man on the futon (Is this the right name?). after that, Sakura approached Naruto.

"Naruto, what…"

"Later Sakura. I don't want to talk about it now." he sighed.

He knew he was being rude and unfair, but he couldn't care less. He was beat! And needed some rest. From the looks of it, do did Sasuke. They shared a look and asked the young women where their room was. They both needed some sleep.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

….

Naruto sighed happily. This felt great! It had been a long time since he has been able to go to a hot spring. If he wanted to go these days he had to or go to private ones or pay the owned so others weren't allowed in.

Softly he caressed his chest. His hand moved downwards, over his tail. He looked up when an other hand grabbed his, pulling his hand away. Kakashi was smiling at him from the border and slipped in the water.

"Impatient aren't you. Couldn't you wait until I was ready to join you?"

The Copy nin chuckled when he noticed the merman blushed an interesting shade of red.

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't take so long, I wouldn't be so bored."

"Just for that I should let you wait some more."

Naruto smiled devilish. Oh, so this was how Kashi wanted to play this.

"Fine by me. You wait and I'll entertain myself some more."

He could feel the other man's stare while his hands wandered around his body.

"You're such a meany." Pouted the man.

As Naruto knew would happen, Kakashi wasn't able to resist long and the silver-haired nin grabbed his lover and hugged him while his own hands started to rub against some of the sensitive spots on Naruto' tail.

"Let me help you. All you need to do is …"

"Yes?" asked Naruto while he closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling.

"Wake UP!"

….

Startled, he woke up. Damn it! And just when it got to the good part to… Why had he woke up? Oh, he had his answer. If Sasuke pinching him was any indication.

"Naruto, wake up!" He whispered as hard as he dared. It was a small house and they might wake the others if they spoke out loud.

"What do you want!" snapped Naruto.

"Having a good dream?" the other smirked. "You were becoming quiet loud."

Naruto blushed, glad it was so dark so Sasuke wouldn't see.

"In any case, we do need to talk. We made a mistake."

Naruto focused on his brother. He knew what it must have cost the teen to admit this.

"Yeah, we forgot that our bodies aren't trained like they were when we … died. I'm glad it turned out okay. This could have gone bad." He whispered back.

"I know. We'll need to consider this for the next part of our plan."

Naruto nodded.

"But, something else now. What are you going to tell Kakashi and Sakura?"

"Not much. I don't feel like telling them. I don't trust them enough for this. I'd like to, but it hurts to realize they are not the Kakashi and Sakura we once knew … will know… This is so confusing! Anyway, they'll have to re-deserve my trust. I'll tell Haku tough. It might be critical to discover if we're family or not."

Sasuke nodded accepting. A warm feeling overwhelmed Naruto. He was very glad his brother was here with him. Of course he had Kyuubi, but the fox never really was very social. He only commented when he felt was necessary or when he felt Naruto needed someone to talk to. But now Sasuke was here, the fox had retreated. Which made him kind of sad. Immediately the fox butted in, showing that even if it didn't seem like he was there, he followed Naruto's every move.

'Don't worry, kit. You'll never be alone again.'


	8. Chapter 8: teamwork? Oh, please!

Kakashi really was a man who loved drama. The way he just announced that Zabuza was still alive. Both Naruto and Sasuke sweat dropped. Sakura and Tazuna on the other hand, were shocked. The rest of the day was spend with their training. Of course Sasuke and Naruto had already done the tree-walking exercise. But, to not rise any suspicion, they pretended they had never heard about it. In the end, it was pretty good training. After all it took good chakra control to mess up, since the exercise had already become a second nature for them. Naruto had managed to avoid Kakashi for the whole day. He really was thanking his lucky stars.

Right now, the were eating dinner. The brothers were both starved after using so much chakra, and were eating at a fast pace.

"Wow, this is super fun!" exclaimed Tazuna happy. "It's been so long since we ate with this many people."

It was only after dinner that Sakura noticed the picture on the wall.

"Hey, why do you have a torn picture on the wall? Inari-kun was staring at it during dinner. It seems like someone purposely removed the person from the picture."

A tense silence filled the room.

'Awkward' thought Kyuubi.

"It's my husband." Said Tsunami, with her back turned towards them. So was washing the dishes.

"And …" added Tazuna. "The hero of this city …"

Brooding, Inari stood up and left the room. Both Tazuna and Tsunami yelled at him to come back but the boy didn't listen.

Immediately Tsunami snapped at her father.

"Father, I have told you not to talk about that man in front of Inari!"

It was Kakashi who asked Tazuna to explain, which the old man did.

(Same as in manga chapter 19)

After once again hearing the story, Naruto stood up and walked towards the door.

"What are you doing?" asked Sakura.

"If you're thinking of training, take the day of. You've released to much chakra,anymore and you could die." Said Kakashi.

' There we go again!' Thougt Kyuubi sarcsticly.

'Shut it!'

"I'm going to prove it… I'm going to prove that in this world … hero's do exist!"

"Fine by me, but I'll come with you. To make sure you don't overdo it." Said Kakashi.

Naruto shrugged.

Once they were outside, both started to walk towards the forest. Sasuke stayed in the house since after that night, Naruto would meet Haku again. They had already argued about itf

FLASHBACK NO JUTSU

"So, tonight is the night." Said Sasuke as they took a break from training. Sakura and Kakashi weren't there so they could talk freely.

"the night?"

"The night you're meeting Haku?"

"Well, technically, I only meet him in the morning, but yeah… why are you bringing this up again? We already talked about this." asked the merman confused.

"I know, but I'd like to come with you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the raven.

"Why?"

"Well, I know, you trust the guy to listen to you and not kill you, but I don't. I mean, I didn't even saw his face!"

"Sasuke, you'll meet him later. You can't come. He might not approach me if you are there."

"Fine, but I want to talk to him before we go to the bridge!" scolded Sasuke.

FLASHBACK KAI

"So, Naruto. I believe it's time we have a little talk." Said Kakashi, while he walked next to the blonde, reading his orange book.

"About what, sensei?" snapped Naruto. He couldn't help it, but he felt so irritated when the cyclop would read while talking to him. In the future, the problem would be easily solved. Most of the times, Naruto just ended up ignoring his lover and Kakashi ended up on the couch. Ahh… the good days.

"About the abilities you displayed during the fight. How are you able to do that?"

"Strange you don't now, I believe there is something mentioned about it in my file. You, as jounin teacher were supposed to read the files of your genin. How come you don't know?"

"Ma … It would be so much quicker if you just told me."

"Now, why would I do that?"

"Well, … We are a team after all." Said Kakashi lazily.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned towards the other. His face blank.

"Are we?"

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi, still not looking up from his book.

"You're a filthy hypocrite, you know that?!" Naruto shouted at the man.

Now that got the jounin's attention and he finally looked up from his books.

"Huh?"

"Preaching about teamwork like that. When have you ever showed me I was part of this so-called team? First day, after the bell test, all of you abandoned me, hanging at a pole. It's been a month since were genin and all we do is D-ranked missions. I know those are meant to increase teamwork with new genin, but was it really that hard to just train us? Tree walking is the first thing you thought us and that's only because we have some s-ranked missin nin's on the loose here. And it's not as if you actually thought us, you just told us how to do it and walked away! Oh, and let's not forget about you like to play favorites too! Sasuke isn't the only one who needs to improve!"

In the end, Naruto was nearly screaming at his sensei. The white-haired man was staring wide-eyed at the blonde.

'Calm down!' insisted Kyuubi. 'You are blurting everything out you have ever reproached the man'

Naruto took a deep breath and continued.

"I can understand if you hate me, sensei. But please just tell me. Don't come to me and pretend you suddenly care, because I know you don't. I'm used to it. People hating me, I mean. You don't need to hide it."

He didn't dare to look Kakashi in the eyes, in fear of seeing that hate reflected in the eyes he loved.

Kakashi stayed silent for a while and Naruto grew more and more nervous. What was taking so long?

"Naruto …" started the Copy-nin softly. "I didn't mean to give you that impression. I don't hate you. It's just painful because…"

He broke off, not knowing how to continue.

"I'm not Kyuubi." Said Naruto so quietly Kakashi barely heard him.

Kakashi rushed forwards and grabbed Naruto by his shoulders, forcing the blonde to look into his eyes.

"I know that! Don't you ever dare think I wouldn't now! The yondaime was my sensei and I happened to be there when he told us about the sealing he was going to perform, minutes before he left to the battle field. Don't ever think such a thing! I do care!"

A warm, fussy feeling spread trough Naruto. His eyes began to water.

"Then why?"

"I'm just not used to expressing myself I guess." Kakashi scratched sheepishly his head. " You just remind me of … an old friend of mine."

Naruto only just understood the last part. His eyes widened when he realized Kakashi was talking about Obito, his former teammate. He now remembered Kakashi once telling him he resembled the Uchiha. They had the same personality.

It stayed silent for a moment. Then…  
"It's a bloodline."

Kakashi listened intensely, nodding to the blonde to go on.

"I called it Umi no Hikari. It allows me to control water by inserting my chakra into it. There is more, but that is the basic. The rest will have to wait. The Hokage did classify it, so I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone."

Kakashi nodded. "Interesting. But you need to know that Sakura already asked me about it. I'm surprised Sasuke didn't ask."

"Just tell her it's a bloodline and classified information. And for Sasuke, … he already knows."


	9. Chapter 9: Kakashi's sneaky

Kakashi's P.O.V.:

I was walking through the forest. It was the morning after my fight … argument with Naruto … okay, so maybe he just yelled at me and I just stood there and took it all. I still couldn't believe I opened up that much to the blonde. I nearly told him about Obito! How come Naruto has that influence on me? I nearly lost control of my emotions when he thought I thought he was Kyuubi. Strange. I need to look into that!

I just … took it all, just like that. It wasn't like me to do that. Normally I would find some sarcastic retort and smile. But this time … I kind of felt I deserved that. I hadn't defend myself because I knew what he said was true. Well, not everything? I didn't think of him as Kyuubi. I would never lie about something like that. But it was true that I had been ignoring him, in favor off Sasuke. Not that I did it on purpose! In fact, I hadn't notice until he pointed it out to me. Quit pathetic for an elite ninja like me, I have to admit. How could I have not notice?!

After Naruto had said all that, he ran into the forest and I felt him be. He probably needed some time on his own. Kami knew I did! I went back inside and hided in my room. I was glad Sasuke and Sakura left me alone. While staring at the sealing, I promised myself I would change things for the better. Naruto was part of our team, so it was time I started treating him like it!

But when I woke up this morning, the cute blonde still hadn't returned. Sasuke told me he hadn't seen Naruto since dinner the night before, but the raven-haired kid didn't look too worried. But for some reason, I was, so I went looking for him.

So here I was now, walking through the trees, looking for him. I was very surprised when I finally found him. He was sitting in a clearing talking to a cute black-haired girl. ( don't worry, Haku is a boy. Kakashi just doesn't realize this yet!) Naruto looked like he had been training all night, dirt hung everywhere. Despised that the girl smiled softly and Naruto looked shocked. It was a cute sight.

"Could you please repeat that?" the cute blonde asked soflty.

"I asked who you parents are, because we might be family."

Okay, so now I understand why Naruto is looking so shocked. I am too! Family? What is going on here?

"I'm an orphan and I don't know who my parents were. I don't even know heir names." Said Naruto somber." But I don't get it. How can you be family?"

"Your bloodlimit resembles mine a lot." Said the girl uncertain, while assembling herbs."I saw you fight that missing nin a couple off days ago."

"You saw that? Wait, … You're that hunter nin that took Zabuza, are you not? you couldn't have seem it otherwise. And now I know why you seem so familiar to me!" shouted Naruto excited.

Welcome shock number 2. I so didn't saw that one coming. How does Naruto know that? And why didn't I notice! Of course that's the same person as the hunter nin. It's all the fault of that cute face. (he never said who's ;) )What in Kami's name have I been doing all this time during this mission? Dreaming? Oh right, I was reading during the first part of it. During the second part I was focused on Zabuza and Naruto … He just awakened his bloodline! It's not as if he had had any other reason to look at the blonde, right?

I saw the girl too was shocked. She tensed and observed the blonde trough slitted (is that the right verb?) eyes. But Naruto continued to collect herbs and acted as if noting had happened. For him, it probably hadn't.

"You're not going to attack me?" she asked confused.

"Of course not, why would I," asked Naruto indignant. "It's not as if you're attacking me and you're not seeming to start any time soon for the moment, so why should I? you're just being honest. Besides, I'm curious about your limit. Could we really be family, you think?"

The girl was smiling again. I smiled softly under my mask as I heard the longing tone Naruto's voise had. I hoped for him they were family. He deserved some happiness. But on the other hand, she was an enemy and if she would be to fight him, it would only hurt him more.

"I surely hope so."

It seemed the girl didn't have family either, since she too seemed dispread to for him to be her brother.

"Maybe if we compare our bloodlimit's … Mine allows me to manipulate water and turn it into ice. What about you?" she really was hoping if she told him valuable information like that. I just hoped both of them didn't get hurt because of this.

"Mine does too!" yelled Naruto excited.

But then, as fast as it came the happiness disappears from his face and worry comes in it place. What is he thinking right now that could cause this? Things look good, from what I can tell…

"Does it do something else too? Something other ninja can't possible do?"

The girl frowned. What does he mean?

"Well, I'm able to use a special attack with ice mirrors thanks to it, but otherwise … no."

The blonde hung his head defeated. When the girl noticed she asked what was wrong. And he pouted …. Pouted! Oh Kami, he's adorable!

…  
Wait, did I just think what I think I did? Adorable?

Yes, says a little voise inside my head, and before you called him cute on several occasions.

I so did not! Did I?

I shake my head to clear it. This is so not the time for this! I'm just in time to hear Naruto say something like "… and I'll show you."

Both get up and leave the clearing. Silently I follow them. It's just to make sure Naruto is okay …

Keep telling yourself that! Laughs the voice. You just want to know his secret!

I so do not!

Anyways … I'm getting of trac.

"Watch." Says Naruto suddenly. I noticed they had arrived at some lake. Strange, how did Naruto know it was here? Had he been training in this place? I know he's hiding something, but what?

Little did I know I was about to find out.

Elegantly the blonde dived into the water. Why does it that him so long before he comes back up? The moment I decide to reveal myself and dive after him, he comes back up.

Dear Kami … My breath stops. I'm unable to move as I study him.

He's BLOODY GORGOUS !


	10. Chapter 10: Fight at the bridge?

Naruto knew he had just taken a huge risk. Who knew who could be spying on them? But he wanted to show his merman-form to Haku. He still hoped the boy would recognize it. Seeing his shocked look, he did not. Haku just stared at him and Naruto felt uncomfortable.

"So … I guess you can't do this." He stated.

"No, and I never heard of anything like this either." Said the raven-haired boy. He knelled down beside Naruto. "Do you really have a … Can I see …?"

Haku had been staring at his tail, so it wasn't hard for Naruto to figure out what he wanted. "Sure."

Naruto rose from the water and sat beside Haku on the bank of the lake. He kept his tale mostly in the water, since he needed it to breath. Haku leaned back so he could observe the other better.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was doing the same from in the tree he was hiding. The boy wasn't a boy anymore. Nor was he completely blond … or human for that matter. But Kakashi noticed that he couldn't care less. Naruto looked older, almost twenty. His blonde hair now had blue streaks in it. His eyes were still blue, but they were darker. Now they reminded him of the ocean. His face didn't look so childish anymore, but he still had that aura off innocence around him. His chest was more muscled then before, but he couldn't be sure of that since the blonde always wore such horrible clothes that hided everything there was to see! So not fair … Kakashi felt like pouting at this moment. Anyway, getting off track again… Naruto's tail was plain gorgeous. At first glance it seemed to be a deep blue color, but if he looked better Kakashi saw some purple, green and other shades of blue. All in all, the boy was breath taking!

…  
…

Okay, he really needed to stop thinking such thoughts about his student!

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

"You look cute." Said Haku after a while, effectively breaking the silence.

"Thanks, I guess. But I believe this means we aren't family, huh. You looked way too shocked for that."

"Maybe. We're definitely not closely related, but sometimes bloodlines don't develop the same way in an entire family. So don't give up hope. You may never know." Said Haku smiling.

Naruto returned the smile and nodded. Both stayed silent for a while.

"But what do we do now? I mean, technically we're still enemies. But I don't want to fight you. Nor do I want my team to get hurt."

"I also don't want to endanger Zabu-kun. How can we solve this?"

"Well, if the both of you didn't work for Gatou, then we wouldn't have to fight…"

"We're not going to –"

Naruto cut him off. "I don't ask for you to break your contract, but I've heard stories about that man. I don't think he's planning on keeping his end of the deal. He'll betray you."

"I fear the same, but Zabu-kun wants to stay. And it's not as if we have any proof off what you just said. So how does that solve anything?"

"Well, let's say we fight, like this conversation never happened. We do not hurt the others too badly and try to stall some time. I'm sure Gatou will show up at some point. Then we lure him into a confession and tadaa! We don't have to fight each other!"

Both continued talking about the plan Naruto (and Sasuke) had come up with. Afterwards they continued talking. They wanted to get to know each other better.

"So … Zabu-kun ey? What's up with that?" asked Naruto grinning.

Haku blushed a bit.

"Well, it's just … you know …" the boy was starring at his feet.

"You've got a crush on him?"

"Yeah… Not that he knows, mind you. I know I'm just a tool in his eyes, but I can't help how I feel."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Naruto looked wishfully over the water.

"Ohw, do you too have a crush then?" smiled Haku.

"Yeah."

"Will you tell me who it is?"

"Maybe later." Laughed Naruto. "Say, how long can you hold your breath?"

"Quite long. Why."

"I'd like to go swimming. I can't do it very often since the Hokage wants me to keep my bloodline a secret. So I thought, maybe we could swim together."

"Sounds good."

Both grinned and dived gracefully in the water.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Kakashi frowned softly up in his tree. Both boys had disappeared under water for some time now. But he wasn't worried. Naruto was half-fish now … Or something like that. He still couldn't believe this was the so-called mystery of Uzumaki Naruto. It was a lot to take in. not only did the boy have a tail and looked gorgeous, but Naruto was supposed to be the dead last of the academy. Well, if the dead last came up with plans like this on such a short notice, he didn't want to know how smart Sasuke was …

Further, he wondered what he should do now. He didn't want to let Naruto know he had been spying on him. He wanted to earn Naruto's trust so the boy would tell him voluntary, without feeling obliged or forced. So, he guessed he would have to trust the two boys with their plans. Of course he would think of a good back-up plan …. Just in case.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

When Naruto came back it was time for dinner. Everybody looked up from their food when he came in. He looked, and felt, exhausted. Sasuke made eye contact with the blonde and asked him a silent question. Naruto nodded in response. The raven-haired boy smirked satisfied. Kakashi noticed this, but didn't comment on it. Sakura of course started yelling at him for not showing up. Same as usual…

"Well Naruto, looks like you trained all day. Eat something and then it's off to bed for you." Said Kakashi happily.

Naruto frowned but nodded nonetheless. Inside, he was grinning. Seemed like Kakashi had at least give their conversation from yesterday some thought.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

When he woke up the next day, he noticed the others were already gone. Half asleep, and not thinking properly, he put his clothes on and raced out of the house. While he made his way trough the forest, there was something nagging him. Was he forgetting something important? It sure felt like it…

'Maybe that comes because you are forgetting something!' said Kyuubi sighing.

'Hey, Kyu! It's been a long time since I heard from you. What have you been up to?'

'I'll tell you later. Right now, you have to get your ass back at the house, since last time there were some thugs who were trying to kidnap the lady.'

Swearing, Naruto turned around and ran back at full speed.

'Sometimes, I thinks me being sealing inside of you is a blessing. I wonder how you would survive without me.' Commented the fox smirking.

'Ohw, does that mean you enjoy being locked up in my belly?' asked Naruto grinning.

'Ohw, shut up!' snapped Kyuubi.

By this time, Naruto had reached the house just in time to save Inari from being sliced to pieces.

He talked a bit to the boy about heroes and crying and was on his way again.

x—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Meanwhile on the bridge:

The two genin, jounin and bridge builder stood facing the two missing nin.

"Looks like a rival has appeared. Eh, Haku?" said Zabuza.

"Looks like it." Said the masked boy. On the inside he was nervous, since Naruto wasn't there, but he didn't let it show.

"It seems my thinking was right on the mark." commented Kakashi. 'And seems like Naruto was right too about that girl.' "That masked one … He's obviously Zabuza's comrade, standing right next to him and all…"

Sasuke sweat dropped. Way to state the obvious.

"He should stop hiding under that mask and face us!" exclaimed Sakura looking much like her inner self.

Another sweat drop. 'Oh, now she talks big? Where the hell is Naruto? Time to act like a , as Naruto puts it, bastard with a stick up his ass.' Thought Sasuke. 'I'm so glad I grew out of that!'

"I'll fight him. Tricking us with that stupid act … I hate bastards like that the most."

"You're so cool, Sasuke."

Both Sasuke and Kakashi sighed as they heard the pink-haired girl say that.

Sasuke shook his head. Just then Haku attacked him. They fought for a while, without doing much damage. They did show off though. Allot of speed and some special ice jutsu from Haku. They moved away from the others while Kakashi and Zabuza were trying to talk their way to victory.

Then …  
"Special Jutsu Demonic ice mirrors!"

After that Kakashi and Zabuza began their fight. Sasuke on the other hand, was smirking. Haku frowned when he noticed.

"What are you -?"

"Naruto says 'hello'."

"So you know?"

"I do."

"Great. So, this fight is off?" asked Haku.

"Sure, we just have to make sure to make some noise. Otherwise, they might check on us. So, are you going to take that mask off?"

"Why not?" Haku shrugged. "So how come Naruto told you?"

"Well, there is the possibility that you both are related. Naruto and I might not share the same blood. But we still consider each other family. We're like brothers, and he thought that I should now if we gained another brother." Sasuke smiled reassuringly at the boy.

Haku looked surprised, but smiled none the less. They both studied each other for a while (Haku had taking off his mask). They introduced themselves and talked a bit. Later Naruto joined them and the three boys started to bond. While talking, they screamed a bit so the others wouldn't become suspicious. When they heard the sound of birds, they knew it was time to act. However, Haku was faster. He used his ice mirrors and appeared before his crush. Cursing Naruto and Sasuke came into action. Concentrating chakra to their feet, they were off. Naruto grabbed Haku and Sasuke grabbed Zabuza and they pulled them away.

Kakashi looked surprised, as did Zabuza.

"Don't." said Naruto softly. "You're our brother."

Haku too looked surprised, he hadn't thought the two genin were serious about the whole family thing. But the jounin didn't got much time to ask the genin about it since Gatou appeared.

Like Naruto had predicted, he did betray the two missing nin. And so Zabuza and Kakashi killed him. Since they both went in for the kill, neither was hurt that badly. The other thugs ran once Inari appeared with the other villagers.

Finally, the first C-ranked mission of team 7 was over.


	11. Chapter 11: Back home?

'Hey Kyu, what have you been up to? You've been so quite lately. You getting sick?' asked Naruto the fox concerned.

'Sick? No, just depressed.'

'Why is that?'

'I just remembered that last time, Cyclops wanted to hold off the kinky stuff until you were mature. I just don't think I hold that long … again.'

'PERVERT!' screamed Naruto, blushing a nice shade of red.

Kyuubi chuckled at the blondes expense.

"Naruto, are you feeling good?" asked Kakashi suddenly.

The blonde shook his head and returned his attention towards his team. They were staring at him. Kakashi looked concerned. (Not that anyone but Naruto could tell. That man hid way TOO much of his face.) Sakura looks annoyed. Haku and Zabuza looked confused and Sasuke smirked. They were currently on the way between Wave Country and Konoha. Their mission had been completed a few days ago and they were nearly at the village.

"I'm fine!" yelled Naruto in the hope they all would stop focusing their attention on him.

The group turned their attention back forwards.

Naruto sighed relieved. Suddenly Kyuubi started laughing in his mind. Normally he wouldn't mind. He had learned to live with the weird habits of the demon, but this time the fox seemed so pleased with himself that Naruto became concerned. Usually this meant Kyu wanted to try something new. It had never ended to well for Naruto. One month with foxtails and –ears was more than enough, thank you very much!

He was just going to ask what the fox was planning, when he felt the demonic chakra flow trough his system. It was only a little bit and it caused him to flinch slightly.

'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!'

'No need to scream like that.' Winced Kyu. The chakra continued to flow at a steady pace. 'I'm trying to help here!'

'Sure!' said Naruto sarcastic. 'Just like last time!'

'Not true, last time I only did what I did for my own pleasure. And you have to amid, your lover liked it too! But this time you too will benefit from this! Aren't I just the best, so considerate. Be glad I, super handsome , super powerful and intelligent Kyuubi, am sealed inside of you! Imagine being set up with Shukaku … ' He shudders.' I feel sorry for panda-chan.'

Naruto decided to ignore the last part. Panda-chan? Gaara would kill Kyuubi if he found out about that nickname!

'So what is it that you are doing?'

'Not telling, it's a surprise!'

'Oh come on!' whined Naruto.

'No chance.'

'I hate you.' Said Naruto pouting.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Later (In the evening):

After they had returned, team 7 split up. Kakashi was going to the Hokage with Haku and Zabuza, and the three genin went home. During their trip back the missing nin from mist had voiced their wish to become konoha shinobi. Kyuubi had been very quiet the remainder of the way back. But Naruto didn't think too much of it. He would see what the fox was up to, when the 'changes' had appeared. Sasuke, Haku and Naruto had taken that time to start bonding. The three seemed to become fast friends. Naruto had been quite happy with that, but right now he felt like crying. He was standing outside, in the rain, just before the Uchiha estate. He was waiting for his brother to come out. He knew it was futile to knock since Sasuke lived at the other end of the estate. Sasuke would notice thanks to some uber-special jutsu from the almighty Uchiha, as he secretly liked to call them (the name went good with an eye-roll).

"Naruto?"

Ah, Sasuke had appeared. Okay, he didn't look very happy … Maybe this was a bad idea. Yeah, defiantly, his scowl darkened.

"I-I-I … I'm sorry. I'll just … go."

He turned and wanted to dash away in a hurry, but Sasuke grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Naruto, What's wrong?"

The scowl had disappeared. The only emotions visual in his face were worry and care.

"I-I … It's just…" Naruto felt tears coming and averted his gaze so Sasuke wouldn't see.

"Let's go inside. You're doing your Hinata-impression again." Said the raven.

Naruto managed a smile, while Sasuke leaded him inside.

"You know she got rid of that habit."

"Yeah."

They entered the living room. It was the typical Uchiha room. A lot of blue and stylish furniture. Sasuke pushed the blonde on the couch and sat next to him.

"So?"

Count on Sasuke to ask any possible question in only one word… So, how to drop the bomb?

"Can I stay at your place for some days?"

'Was this to blunt?' thought Naruto uncertainly. 'Seeing the blank look on his face, I guess it was.'

"Why? Did the owner gave you trouble again?"

"Well, he never did this. In any timeline."

Sasuke scowled again. "What did he do?"

Naruto flinched at the hard tone.

"H-he kinda … sorta … kicked me out."

'Okay, maybe I said it that soft he didn't hear me.' Hoped Naruto.

He had no such luck.

"WHAT?"

Okay, Uchiha losing temper equals creepy!

The raven was pacing in the room, all the while cursing and swearing.

"Sasuke, please calm down." Said the merboy quietly.

"Oh Naruto. I'm sorry. … of course you can stay here." The boy looked softly at the blond.

"Thank you."

'Oh Kami, there are the tears again.'

Sasuke didn't say anything when tears started to roll. He only hugged the blonde.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Next day:

In the end, both boys had slept on the couch. They talked a bit the previous night and they had fallen asleep in the living room. They ate breakfast and Naruto dragged Sasuke out. Kakashi had given them a day off and Naruto wanted his new clothes! So of course Sasuke had to come! They weren't new for Sasuke. Naruto had ordered the same as he had in the future. He really liked the cloak! It Had been the first birthday present Tsunade had given him. It had been too big in the beginning, something he found strange. But who was he to complain? He had been way too happy for that! It had been his first birthday gift ever! His friends only started to celebrate his birthdays after his training trip with Jiraiya and after he brought back Sasuke. (He didn't have a birthday in between those two so…) Sasuke had given him his second gift.

Now, he was standing before the mirror, back at the estate. The clothes were simple enough, his pants black in color with many pockets for storing items. The pants ended a little above his ankle, where white wrapping were then worn. Naruto also had gotten new black shinobi sandals since his blue ones were beginning to get too small. His top was a dark blue sweater, with a white spiral on his right shoulder. He also wore a cloak similar to Minato's, but instead there was no kanji on the back. The cloak was also a pure white in color, with blue flames licking the bottom edges. It were shinobi clothes, but they made him look very handsome.

He looked at Sasuke, who beamed at him.

Naruto grinned. He couldn't wait until Kakashi saw him like this!


	12. Chapter 12:  Oops

The next day, Naruto woke up late. Not that he minded, Kakashi had said to meet at 11. And seeing how late the man usually was … He stood up from the couch and stretched. It seemed the 2 boys had fallen asleep on the couch while watching the movie. Well, Naruto had. He heard some noise from the kitchen and went to investigate. Sasuke was making breakfast.

"Finally awake, dobe." Smiled the raven.

"You bet, teme!" said Naruto cheerful.

They ate breakfast in silence.

"So what are you going to do today?" asked Naruto.

"Training."

"I should have known."

"You?"

Naruto sighed. "Back to one-word sentences. Well, the old man is briefing Haku-nii and asked if I could come. Otherwise, I have no idea."

"So, you two are related."

"Yeah."

"he told you who your parents were than."

"Yeah."

"Who is the one speaking in one-word sentences now?"

"It's just quite a shock. I never suspected… My mothers name was Uzumaki Kushina. She came from Whirlpool County. And Zabuza remembered that Haku once had told him that he was related to the Uzumaki's of Whirlpool Country, so that's how we are related. But my father …"

"Yes?"

"His names was Namikaze Minato. He was the Yondaime."

Silence fell in the kitchen.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

Naruto still needed some time to adjust to that. But at least that meant he still had family, even if Haku was only distantly related. Naruto finished his food and stood up. He thanked Sasuke for breakfast and went upstairs to his room. He took a quick shower and put his new clothes on. He felt the cloak tough. He would wear it when the people of Konoha knew who j-his parents were and when they knew of his bloodline. Or on some special occasions…

Once ready, the blonde ran out of the house, towards the Hokage tower. He waited outside the office of the old man.

'Hey Kyu, what are you doing? You still haven't stopped.'

And indeed, since he had started on the trip back to Konoha, the fox was still busy spreading chakra through his system. What worried Naruto was that his whole body was tingling.

'Not going to tell you.'

'Oh, come on! It's my body, you know!'

'Do I look like I care?' laughed Kyu.

'No, not really' sighed Naruto. 'But , I'll keep bugging you until you tell!'

'Sure …' said Kyuubi unimpressed.

Just then, Haku came out of the office.

"Naruto-kun."

Naruto snapped out of his conversation with Kyu and looked up.

"Haku-nii!"

The blonde ran towards the raven and hugged him. Haku look startled, but hugged the younger boy back.

"Nice clothes, you have there."

"Thanks." Naruto blushed a bit.

It didn't happen often that people complimented him.

"So, what did the old man say? We all know you both get to stay."

"Well, both Zabuza-sama and I will be under supervision for two months. We are allowed to train, but only with you guys. And in those two months, I get to help out at the academy. The Hokage said you know one of the teachers there. Could you introduce me to him?"

"Sure, follow me!"

Naruto let the other boy towards the academy, where he knew Iruka-sensei would be. They continued to talk, when Haku suddenly asked something that seemed to bother him.

"Why are all these people glaring like that?" he asked frowning.

"Huh? Oh that. Don't worry about it. They're glaring at me, not you." Said Naruto as if it didn't bother him.

"But why?"

"I'll explain it to you but not here, not now."

Haku was still frowning, but nodded.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Naruto, pointing at the academy. "Come on."

They walked trough the building. Naruto knew the man just had a break.

"Iruka-sensei!" he yelled , while he entered the classroom.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" asked the chuunin.

"Sensei, this is Haku-nii. He's here to help you out!"

"That's nice of him." Iruka smiled at the young boy. "Welcome, I'm Umino Iruka."

"I'm Haku. The Hokage asked me to give you this."

Haku handed Iruka a scroll.

Well, I'll be going. Have fun you two!" said Naruto as he dashed away.

'Now, what did you want to talk about?' he asked the fox.

'Shouldn't you be more worried?'

'About what?'

'About who, you mean. Panda-chan.'

'Gaara? What's wrong with him?'

Kyuubi sighed.

'I should have known…' the fox shook his head sadly. 'You just don't get it do you? Can't you feel it? You and the Uchiha both travelled back in time. Your bodies stayed those of twelve-year olds, but your mind and chakra are the same as before your little trip. I had to mask your chakra signature so others wouldn't be suspicious. Shukaku's vessel isn't doing so.'

'Stop calling him that.) said Naruto irritated. 'But, does that mean that Gaara travelled back too?'

'Off course, you stupid fish! Now, use your brains for once!' snarled the fox angry. 'In our lifetime, Akatsuki captured Gaara and tried to obtain Shukaku, right?'

Naruto nodded.

'We both know that it wasn't Shukaku that was taken, but the mad priest, right?'

Naruto nodded again.

'And after that … ? What happened?'

'Euhm, Gaara and the raccoon became friends like you and me. And Gaara could sleep again.' Answered Naruto.

'True. So that means?'

'Huh?' Naruto looked unsure at the demon.

'Sometimes I wonder why you play being stupid, when you clearly are just that! I mean that the guy and Shukaku came back, but the priest isn't sealed away, which turns the raccoon into a lunatic! But that isn't the only problem, is it? Gaara is used to sleeping again! And what happens when he sleeps in that condition?'

'Fuck!'

'your evolved language surprises me every time.'

Immediately Naruto bolted towards the Uchiha estate, in the hope that Sasuke was still there.

Lucky as he was, the raven was just leaving. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and dragged him back inside. He explained what Kyuubi had just told him. Sasuke looked uneasy. But he smiled at Naruto nonetheless.

"So, you're going to see him and fix the seal?"

(Naruto was going for his seal-mastery before he died)

"Yeah, I'll make a shadow clone and go. Could you watch him for me? Just make sure nobody dispels him."

"Sure. Just make sure you're here before the exams begin."

"Don't worry, I'll be there! I promise." Said Naruto while doing the nice-guy pose he had learned from Gai.

The temperature dropped and an icy wind blew through the room.

"Do that one more time, and you'll find the true meaning of being thrown out!" said Sasuke furious.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

'Damn, it's hot here.' Complained Naruto.

'You know kit, that's COMPLETELY NORMAL SINCE WE'RE IN A BLOODY DESSERT!'

'I know that, geez.' Said Naruto smiling.

He so loved to infuriate the fox.

Naruto had been able to leave the village unnoticed and he had managed to send a message to Gaara. Now, he was waiting at the entrance of a cave. Because of the heat, he only wore his pants and his sandals. He smiled as he saw the redhead approach.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Greeted Gaara.

"Gaara. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I hope you didn't have too much trouble."

"I was lucky I had some missions I could kill a lot of enemies. Better them than the people in Suna."

Naruto took out his brush and ink. He studied the other. Gaara looked just like he remembered the boy at the age of twelve. But he looked exhausted. He motioned for Gaara to take off his shirt so Naruto could work on the seal. They sat there for a long time. Naruto concentrated on the seal he had to make and Gaara studied the blonde.

When he was ready, Naruto looked the other in the eyes.

"When does your team leave for Konoha?"

"In three days."

"I'll make sure to wake you up on time then."

He knew that after this, Gaara would fall asleep almost instantly, and for a long time.

"Hang on. This is going to hurt."

Naruto placed two fingers on the seal and activated it.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

four days later, Naruto sneaked back into Konoha. The sealing was done, Gaara was awake and he had spoken to the sand demon. Mission accomplished. He snuck into his bedroom and saw his clone sleeping. He dispelled it and closed his eyes, ready for the new memories that flooded his mind.

Naruto smiled. The clone had been training with his team, Zabuza and Haku. He grinned

When he saw Kakashi's surprise at his new cloths. It seemed their sensei had taken their training serious this time around? He had taught them water walking. Naruto was surprised to see that his sensei hadn't asked questions or had protested when his clone said he wanted to do this training alone. He was very grateful for this. If he had stayed and fallen in the water, he would have had some explaining to do when he explained his bloodline to the man. Another surprise came when Kakashi took him aside after training. The man passed his apartment earlier that day and had heard what had happened. Now, he wanted to know if Naruto had found another place to stay . Naruto felt all warm inside when he realized the man was worried about him. Also , Kakashi had already nominated them for the chuunin exams. They would celebrate their entrance tomorrow.

Naruto grinned when an idea struck him. Now, all he had to do was make sure Sasuke agreed ….


	13. Chapter 13: The surprise!

Both boys were eating breakfast the next morning.

"So, you're back," stated Sasuke. "Everything went all right?"

"Yep, no new problems. But I still feel so stupid. How could I have missed Gaara's situation?"

"You couldn't have known that he came back as well."

"Maybe. But I still feel awful. He didn't look very good."

"At least he's not a psychopathic murderer anymore. This will help in the long run. The exams will be a lot easier. Only problem left: Sakura. She's still useless. What are we going to do about her?"

"Don't be so rude!"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow.

"It might be true, but you don't need to be so rude about it."

"Hn."

"Anyway, I have no idea about what to do. I mean, I do know that Tsunade's training had something to do with it. But just like you, I wasn't around at the time. And that training is still very far away."

"I won't survive that long, not again." Sasuke murmured. "But I think I've found a solution."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Oh, the evil smirk appeared. Trouble is coming. Naruto had a bad feeling about this.

"So, what are you going to do to her?"

"Not much. Spar a bit."

"Please don't kill her." Groaned Naruto.

Sasuke didn't answer. But the smirk didn't leave.

Then he asked, "And what will you do today?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied eloquently.

The raven rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'll be busy with Sakura. What will you be doing?"

"Does that mean I'll be all alone with Kakashi today?" Naruto suddenly realized.

"Yeah, but don't molest the guy."

"Aw, spoilsport." He pouted. "But this is great! Now I don't need to convince you to agree with my plans to distract Sakura for me! Because you're already doing that," cheered Naruto.

"Plans? What plans?" asked Sasuke, alarmed.

"I want to show Kakashi my bloodline. All of it."

"Are you sure? He might look like it, but he's not the same person."

"It's hard sometimes to see the difference, but I'll manage. I want to do this."

"Fine by me. But if something goes wrong, you come to me. You know I'll be there for you."

"Thanks, big brother."

They hugged, before they got ready to leave for their team meeting.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Kakashi's P.O.V.:

When I finally arrived at the bridge for our team meeting – only 3 hours late – I was greeted by a very amusing scene. Naruto was sitting on the ground, snickering behind his hand.  
'Cute…'

'I did not just think that!'

'Cough.'

Anyway, next was Sasuke, who was glaring at the blonde. Sakura on the other hand was clinging to Sasuke's arm. She was giggling and staring up at him with hearts in her eyes.

'Wonder what happened here?'

Sasuke was the first who noticed me. It was a nice change, not getting yelled at for being late.

"Well, Sasuke, I see you've been busy."

Seems like I managed to get a patented Uchiha-glare™ after my first sentence. I'm good!

"Morning, sensei." Naruto greeted.

"Have you decided what you want to do for today?"

"I don't care what you do. I'm training with Sakura today." Sasuke muttered grimly.

With that the Uchiha walked away, the pink-haired girl still attached to his arm, much to his dismay.

Well, I can't say I expected that.

I turned towards Naruto, who was smirking at his teammate's back.

"Just the two off us then. What do want to do Naruto? Dinner-date at Ichiraku's?"

Naruto's face turned bright red. I silently cheered for myself. He looked so cute all flushed.

"Maybe later."

Yay, he didn't decline the invitation to a date!  
'Wow. Kakashi Hatake, don't you dare go there!'

He's not even of age.

Did I just … yeah.

I really need to think about this. But not now.

It stayed still for a little while. It was a bit awkward. Usually, I would take out my newest Icha Icha Paradise –there are rumors there will be a yaoi-edition soon, sweet!– and started reading it. Or at least I pretended to read it. But I didn't now. Normally, I would jump at the opportunity to piss someone off, especially Naruto. He always acts all shy and flushed. And he has a great voice for screaming. But not today. I can see he wants to talk to me about something. This would be the first time he seemed willing to trust me with anything, and I want to gain and keep his trust. For some reason, I want to be close to him. I need him to trust me.

Call me weird. Or crazy. Whichever is fine.

"Sensei, I've given this a lot of thought. I think you deserve to know. You've been very patient with me these last days. Besides, you're my sensei. With the exams coming, it would be for the best if you knew. I'm sure the other jounin sensei will ask you questions. It wouldn't look good if you didn't know. You're allowed to inform them, if necessary. Besides, you're the first adult who actually seems to care about me so…."

The last sentence was whispered and I was sure I wasn't supposed to have heard. When I saw him there – looking more vulnerable than I had ever seen him- I felt so angry. Angry with everyone in the village and angry with myself for ever hurting him in any way.

I promised myself I would never Intentionally hurt him again

"So I want to tell you about my bloodline. Everything."

I was stunned.

I had never expected him to trust me so quickly with this. It's true that technically I already knew, but I never talked about it to anyone, not even the Hokage. And I wasn't planning to. I would prove him I was worthy of his trust. So all I did was nod.

"But I can't tell you. It's difficult to explain."

Yes, I can understand that.

"So, I'll have to show you."

He sprinted away and I followed eagerly.

I was going to see 'him' again! Well, not him, but … well, the merman I guess. I couldn't wait! I mean, honestly, Naruto might be half fish in the water (still weird), but imagine that's what Naruto will look like in a couple of years. Start drooling …

"The hot springs?" I asked, confused.

"The warm water is more comfortable." He said, smiling.

We went inside and silently took off our clothes and wrapped towels around our hips. I had two more for my face. It was a bit to soon to show him that. Later. I was surprised when he didn't say anything about it though. He just smiled.

Subtly, I observed him. Already he was very good looking. I was happy he ditched the orange jump suit a few days ago. When he noticed me looking, I simply smiled. Blushing, he looked away. He nervously fidgeted a bit. I took his hand and led him out of the changing room, towards the hot spring. He didn't protest, he only smiled.

When we arrived, we were both surprised.

It seemed Zabuza and Haku were already there. But both were to busy making out and feeling each other up to notice us. It was cute.

But I couldn't help it: I snickered.

The instantly broke apart. Zabuza was glaring at us for interrupting them. Haku just blushed.

"So you're finally together. Congratulations, ni-san." Said Naruto, smiling.

"Thanks."

Ni-san?

Right, they were related. I still find that hard to grasp. But I'm glad for the both of them.

"And how is your love life?" Haku asked slyly..

"I'm working on it."

Hm, I don't like the sound of that! Naruto is meant to stay single! At least till he was old enough so I could claim him! I might be a pervert – and I freely admit that – but I'm not a pedophile!

Sigh.

This is not the time for this.

Zabuza grinned. "I'm sure it'll turn out all right. They would be stupid to reject you."

Haku smacked him upside his head, but still beamed at Naruto.

I glared at both of them. Of course, they're right, but I don't want him to start dating. They both seemed to find my reaction funny. Even Naruto smiled, but – on the bright side – he was blushing once again. My glare disappeared as soon as it came.

"We'll leave the two of you alone now." Said Haku while he tugged at Zabuza's arm to drag the other with him out of the water.

"Fine, fine. No need to rip my arm off." He turned to Naruto, "Next time we meet, let's train."

"Sure." Agreed the blonde.

I nodded. Soon the couple left.

I turned to Naruto and notice that he looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Right. Here goes nothing," He whispered.

He walked towards the water and elegantly dived into it.

I'm surprised he didn't explain it to me. But, he didn't explain it to Haku either. Then again, how do you explain something like this?

I walked into the water and patiently waited until he came back up. And when he did, I could only stare. He's even more perfect up close. He looked up at me through his eyelashes.

"You look cute."

He glared at me.

"Why is that always what people say when they find out?"

I smile.

"I'd say hot, but you might hit me."

He laughed.

"Glad you approve." I'm glad he didn't explode on me.

He seemed relieved. He sat beside me, so that I could clearly see his tail. I hadn't paid much attention to it last time.

It's still strange.

But up close like this, it fits him. It's almost normal. Beautiful colors, by the way. Blues, greens and even some purple.

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. And It felt good to know that we just grew a little bit closer.

End Kakashi's P.O.V.


	14. Chapter 14: the First Exam

Naruto was playing with Konohamaru when the kid ran into trouble. Typical. He immediately recognized Kankuro and Temari, Gaara's older siblings. Like last time, Konohamaru had bumped into the puppeteer, not watching where he was going. If Naruto had remembered that part, he would have stopped him. And like last time, Kankuro just had to make a scene.

'The guy can say what he wants about his so-called face-paint, but in my eyes that will always be make-up.' Sniggered Kyuubi.

Naruto mentally sniggered with him.

Mr. face-paint reached down and grabbed Konohamaru by the front of his shirt.

"Oi, what are you trying to do there?" protested Naruto.

Kankuro ignored him and shook Konohamaru.

"That hurt, you bastard." The older boy growled.

"Don't. We'll get yelled at later…" said Temari nervously. "You know how he's been acting strange the last couple of days."

Naruto sighed. He never did like being ignored.

"I think you should gently put him down." He suggested quietly.

Kankuro finally turned to look at the blonde.

"Well, what if I don't feel like it?" He sneered.

Naruto frowned. How on earth was he going to solve this one, without giving away too much surprises for the exams?

"Kankuro, put the twerp down. You're an embarrassment to our village." A smooth, dark voice demanded.

Gaara had appeared on the same tree branch as last time. He looked better than when Naruto had last seen him. The redhead was currently staring blankly at his brother, but Kankuro knew what the look meant. Konohamaru was so shocked with his sudden appearance that he hadn't reacted to the insult. This probably was a good thing too…

Kankuro trembled as he released the younger boy. Temari soon joined in the trembling as Gaara's eyes landed on her.

"G-Gaara," stuttered Kankuro.

"What do you think we came to Konoha for?"

The question was asked in the same monotone voice as before. It went very good with the blank stare. Very impressive, Naruto thought this time around.

'I wonder how much fun panda-chan and Shukaku are having, right now.'stated Kyuubi amused.

'Let's help them out a bit.' Naruto outwardly grinned.

"Li-listen Gaara … T-this guy started it, and –"

"Shut up."

Gaara Glared at him. The kind of glare that actually deserves a capital letter. … Sasuke's glare had one too.

"I-I got it. M-my mistake."

Kankuro turned sharply towards Naruto and Konohamaru.

"I'm sorry, really sorry."

He almost bowed when he apologized. Naruto frowned again and pretended to think about it. Gaara came out of his tree and stood before the blonde.

"Apologies to you."

Naruto skeptically looked into the redhead's eyes. He motioned for Konohamaru to get out of there. The boy quickly scuttled away, thanking the deities he hadn't peed his pants. Then Naruto turned towards Gaara, looking very serious. Temari and Kankuro were sweating now. Terrified, they slowly inched away from the two Jinchuuriki.

Suddenly, Naruto swung an arm around Gaara's shoulder, grinning widely and said: "Treat me to some ramen and we'll never talk about it again."

When Gaara smiled in return, his two Siblings took off screaming. The Jinchuuriki smiled at each other and high fived.

"I still want that ramen, though."

Gaara rolled his eyes and let himself be dragged towards Ichiraku's.

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Naruto's P.O.V.:

The day of the exams, I was worried about Sakura. I hadn't seen her again since she took off to 'spar' with Sasuke. Knowing that, there shouldn't have been anything to worry about, but combined with Sasuke's self-satisfied smirk, I wasn't sure if there shouldn't be. When I asked him about it, Sasuke said she was fine; he even mentioned some extra sessions. Let's just say my worries didn't exactly go away. So of course, I was disappointed when he wouldn't reveal what he done to our teammate.

When I reached the bridge that morning I was relieved. Sakura looked just fine. Like me, she had changed her outfit. It were still fairly girly (and she still wore some red), but it looked more comfortable for battle. She wore black pants that reached till under her knees. Her headband was tied to her belt and she still wore the same sandals. He top was dark red and sleeveless. Over it, she wore a fishnet shirt.

"Good morning."

I was shocked. She greeted me. Sakura had just greeted me. And she was friendly! I smiled.

"Morning."

"I really like your new outfit," she said, studying me. "It suits you way better than that orange abomination you wore before."

I smiled a tiny smile. It meant a lot to me that she said that, but the fact remains that she's still weeks too late! But I appreciated her efforts nonetheless. And it was a bit funny, since she originally helped me choose the outfit. Afterwards she had made the exact same comment! I complimented her about her new outfit. She looked great.

"I know," was her excited reaction. "Sasuke-kun said I needed other clothes and it took me three whole days to find some he approved of. And they are comfortable."

Sasuke did what? I should have known… a sign.

Speaking of the devil, there he comes. Sakura and I waved to him. She seemed like she wanted to run towards him and hug him to death, but she stayed where she was. It made me wonder what he threatened her with.

Usually Kyuu would be giving his opinion right about now, but he was sleeping again. (I can hear him snoring in the back of my mind.) Lazy fox.

Sasuke too, wore a different outfit. He had chosen loose black pants, with a lot of pockets, a blue shirt (with a big collar, like always, and the Uchiha symbol on his left sleeve) and fingerless gloves. Simple, but effective. AND he didn't look like a little kid anymore.

Together we made our way towards the Academy. On the way there, Sakura and I managed to have a normal conversation (without all the usual screaming and hits on my head). Sometimes Sasuke would join in (but only for the duration of one whole sentence, which admittedly was more than I was expecting.)

On the inside I was cheering. I didn't know what Sasuke had done, but he was working miracles! We were once again on our way to become a true Team Seven. Things were defiantly looking up this time.

We arrived and immediately made our way to room 301. When we arrived on the second floor, neither Sasuke nor I said anything about the genjustu we knew was there. But even still, Sakura hesitated. Unsure she asked Sasuke (Why not me too? She still needs some work!) if the illusion was there. He confirmed it and we silently made our way up the stairs. Later we were halted by Lee.

He made a flashing entrance and started shooting eye-wink kisses at Sakura, something about eternal love and romancing under a youthful sunset, whatever, I wasn't really listening. I was busy thinking about how I would pass the exams. The plan had been that Kyuubi would answer all of them (He kept bragging about his vast intelligence. No human genius could know as much as he did, let alone a kid like me. I wasn't too pleased with that comment.) but since Mr. Intelligence was hibernating, I had to find an other solution. I vaguely heard how Sakura shot Lee down. Poor guy …

Sakura had made some improvements, like she ducked those flying hearts aimed at her, but she still had a long way to go. She still needed a lot of lessons dodging things much sharper than hearts.

In any case, this time Sasuke wasn't as arrogant as before. He didn't fight Lee. He simply told the spandex-wearing teen he wouldn't fight for Sakura. Lee could have her without all the trouble.

Ouch. I winced when I saw Sakura's devastated reaction. That had to hurt. It only lasted a second though. After that second, she was once again clinging to him, whining (with tears in her eyes) about how selfless and kindhearted he was. If I were to believe her then that would mean that Sasuke was sacrificing his own happiness for others. Sure – hear the sarcasm-, the only thing that was being sacrificed here was the last nerve Sasuke had. His eyebrow was twitching dangerously and he seemed ready to do something very un-Sasuke-like: explode.

It seemed that all the improvements she made was thrown out of the window. Why had I honestly believed Sasuke had actually succeeded in straining her out? He had just made her crush worse by spending time with her and telling her to act as a kunoichi should (teamwork and proper clothes), because he liked her better that way.

Moron.

Sasuke rudely told her to stop making a scene and act more professional and she immediately let go, looking around seriously.

Oh boy…

After that, Sasuke silently continued on his way to room 301. Sakura and I hurried after him. Once there Kakashi greeted us, explained we only could enter if all three of us were there (We know that already! Hurry up!) and wished us good luck.

Sasuke went in first and immediately dodged Ino, who had launched herself at him. The girl almost fell on her face. Sasuke was twitching like mad. Ino pouted and started complaining for a while, and then she enthusiastically told him that she liked his new outfit. She tried to hug him again, but this time it was Sakura who stopped her. The two girls started screaming at each other. I watched grinning. They were always so entertaining. The best part was:

" … and what the hell are you wearing, forehead girl?! If you think you can seduce Sasuke-kun by dressing up like that, then you're WRONG!"

"Hah! Sasuke said he liked it! He even helped me choose it!"

Aahh … Ino's reaction to that was splendid. She even did the whole gapping-like-a-fish-out-of- water imitation.

Just then the other members of the rookie 9 made there entrance. Kiba was looking wolfish as usual, Choji was eating as usual, Shino was silent, Hinata was stuttering … You catch my drift.

It was hard to pretend I didn't know Kabuto though. I still felt betrayed when I thought of him. My whole team was relieved to see that no information about my bloodline had made it into Kabuto's cards. Sakura still didn't know the whole truth, but she knew about my affinity for water. It was also why I had a gourd (not nearly as big as Gaara's though) attached to my belt. It could pass as a drinking bag without problems. and those weren't forbidden in these exams so I still had the element of the surprise.

Unfortunately this time, the Sound Genin didn't have the time to attack Kabuto, since Ibiki was early.

The test started shortLY after. And since I had promised Sasuke I would at least try to fill it in, I slowly opened my gourd. A little bit of water circled around my hand. This all happened under my desk of course. Hinata gasped, I smiled. I knew she had a water affinity. We trained a lot together. In the future, that is.

First, I was going to send the water towards Sasuke. It would stick to his hand like a thin glove and I would be able to sense what he was writhing. But since Hinata was looking at me questionably, I decided to show her. And so I send the water to copy her writings. At the bottom of the page where question 10 could be answered, I doodled a fox and (ironically) a fish who that were sitting victoriously on a beaten-up snake. Let it be clear, I didn't mean Sasuke (hopefully he won't want to go that route again)!

The written exam commenced quietly, cheating abound, and I turned again to smile at Hinata. She quickly looked away and began to furiously scribble on her paper.


	15. Chapter 15: The Second Exam and Kyu's surpirse

Some things never change, whether you're in the past, the present, or the future. One of these constants was Anko. That women surely lived up to her reputation.

Scary…Loud…

Right then, she stood before the gates of Area 44, also known as the Forest of Death, with a big smile on her face. She looked truly happy, waving with those papers. Like she enjoyed sending young ninja to possible death without being responsible. Then again, she probably was.

Naruto was nervous. He still didn't know what would happen once they were inside the forest. What would he do when Orochimaru turned up? When he asked Sasuke earlier, the raven had shrugged.

Completely lost in thought, he didn't hear anything Anko said. So he was surprised when a kunai was thrown at him and cut his cheek.

"This isn't the time to start daydreaming, boy," smirked Anko, who suddenly stood behind him and licked the blood from his face.

Okay, maybe Anko wasn't scary… Creepy was a better word to define her.

And to make things better (note the sarcasm) Mr. 'I'm-still-pretending-to-be-a-girl' Orochimaru just had to retrieve Anko's kunai.

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(I'm not going to describe the beginning of the exam. It's practically the same. They do get an earth scroll from the team of Amegakure-nin they defeated.)

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

This time around the windblast didn't come as a surprise, so Naruto wasn't separated from his team.

Which was good.

Then the Grass-nin appeared. When Sasuke charged the enemy, Naruto fell back to protect Sakura. He hoped Sasuke knew what he was doing. Sakura wasn't screaming at Sasuke to encourage him. She stayed quite and watched the fight attentively, as if she finally understood that being ninja wasn't a game.

Naruto took a kunai and positioned himself before the girl. When he focused on the fight, he frowned. Why was Sasuke holding back at a time like this? What was he thinking?

Maybe … no. That couldn't be possible. Could he actually want that seal? There had to be something else… something he was overlooking. But what?

The bastard could be so annoying.

Then Orochimaru appeared before him and attacked and he was just barely able to dodge. Sakura screamed. He turned to her and yelled,

"Sakura, get out of here, now!"

The girl took off faster than he thought she would. So Sasuke did train her.

'While you're thinking of that brat, did you notice? He still fighting snake-face.'

'What?'

And when Naruto looked, he saw that there were indeed two grass-nin. Two times the same one, of course. Bunshin?

'Okay, there are two possibilities. Number one: Orochimaru has an evil twin. Or a good twin. Or one as evil as him. Or number two – and this one is more probable- he made a clone. Which one is the real one?'

'You figure it out. I'm sleepy.'

'Geez, thanks, you're such a help!' shouted Naruto at the fox.

'You're welcome.'

Soon he heard soft snoring in the back of his head.

In the meanwhile he was still dodging the snake-sannin.

"So, you're the Kyuubi brat." Chuckled the creep.

Naruto's eyes widened. How the hell did he know that? It wasn't as if he was using Kyuubi's chakra or anything!

Oh, wait…

He was. Well, technically, Kyu was using his own chakra to do as he pleased. He had just become used to the little bit of pain it caused, that he had forgotten about it. Had the sannin sensed that?

"Seems you can already control it's chakra. Well, that doesn't really fit into my plans. What shall I do with you?"

He smirked. Naruto shivered slightly. What was he up to now?

Orochimaru's reptile-like tongue lashed out, around Naruto's waist, his arms, neck.

…

Disgusting!

Then, a huge amount of pain spread trough him, starting around the seal.

'NO! NOT THE SEAL! DAMN!'

For the first time since Naruto could talk to Kyuubi, the fox sounded scared. But Naruto couldn't react. The pain was travelling through his body, fast. He didn't feel anything else.

And then, everything went black.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Sasuke's P.O.V.:

Clones?

Oh great… Just what we needed.

Sigh.

It didn't take me to long to dispose of the clone before me.

Five whole seconds, I was shocked. Something didn't feel right.

Why had he sent the clone to me? I thought it was me he wanted, so why would he go after Naruto? It's sort of insulting. Not that Naruto wasn't strong, but he was still acting like an idiot half of the time, so not many knew about…that. So why?

I turned towards the one I consider my little brother (Naruto is younger after all…) to see how he was doing.

I gasped.

The pedophile's tongue was tightly wrapped around him and his fingers of his right hand was imbedded into Naruto's stomach.

I dashed forwards, planning on helping my brother in all but blood. But it was too late. I can see a new seal form over the old one. Naruto's chakra level began to plummet at an alarming rate, and he's already unconscious. Orochimaru jumps away, but he's still burned by it.

First things first now. I leave Naruto to Sakura (I made sure she knew first-aid before the exams. It should help her decide if she wants to become a medic this time around) and charge the snake sannin. I'm not holding back.

I lost count for how long we fought, but it had to be quite some time. We're evenly matched, but that doesn't mean a lot. He is restricted in the amount of power he wants to use. If he used more, the proctors and the Hokage would notice him. I still haven't improved enough! I need to become stronger! I won't lose anyone dear to me this time around.

And that bastard had the audacity to laugh. It made my blood boil.

Then, his right leg is enveloped in sand. He's just as surprised as I am. But does this mean …

Gaara?

The sand nin was standing before my team mates, his right hand stretched towards the sannin. I smirked.

Together, we could do this easily.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Soon, after seeing how the odds were stacked against him, Orochimaru fled into the trees, vowing that he would be back.

Like I care.

I turned towards the other genin. Gaara stood next to me. Like always, he looked as if he were a statue. But he smiled a bit. Unconsciously, my smirk turned into a small smile. His siblings were standing a bit farther.

"Sasuke-kun!"

My attention is turned towards Sakura. Her tone was off. She looked worried. Quickly I rushed towards her side. She had taken off Naruto's shirt. He was awake and clearly in pain, judging from his expression. Kyuubi's chakra had disappeared. But what worried me were the random wounds that seemed to appear on his skin. Right now they were still small, but I had a feeling it wouldn't stay that way.

"We need to get him to the tower, to a medic." Garaa insisted tonelessly.

I nodded towards the redhead.

"But Gaara, we were just there! Why did we come here? They're just some idiotic brats!" yelled Kankuro angrily.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Gaara whispered and turned to him slowly.

The older nin blanched stepped back, shaken and obviously very sorry.

"We'll help you get there." Said Temari.. She seemed to have understood that Gaara wanted to help and would help. She was smarter than Kankuro.

Gaara nodded.

"Who are you people?" asked Sakura while she was trying to bind Naruto's wounds with bandages.

"I am Gaara of the Sand and these are my siblings, Temari and Kankuro. I felt a strange chakra outburst and wanted to investigate."

Sakura still looked confused, but nodded anyway.

Gaara and I lifted Naruto off the ground and together we sped towards the tower. Temari and Kankuro quickly dealt with ninja who tried to take their scrolls. I was glad we had encountered those rain-nin at the start of the exam. I was also very grateful we didn't encounter Kabuto. Yet.

We quickly arrived at the tower. I took Naruto from Gaara and thanked them.

"Keep me updated." He grunted.

"Sure."

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Kakashi's P.O.V.:

I had a lot of fun during the first exam. All the jounins (who had a team that participated in the exams) sat in a small room, watching the exam on a monitor. Some of these kids had quite the imagination. How had that Tenten-girl gotten those mirrors up there? Bugs, a sand eye … this turned out to be very interesting. My team seemed to be fairing well, to the great surprise of the other Konoha shinobi in the room. I had troubles containing my laughter at the shocked faces. Apparently they hadn't thought Naruto would be doing good. Heh, morons. I'm done underestimating that kid.

Sakura wasn't surprising anyone (she did always end up first in class – after Sasuke of course) and Sasuke was proudly showing off his Sharingan. Ah, it's so much fun. I can see Asuma itching to ask me what I did to the dead last of this graduation year.

Hehe.

…

Well, I didn't do much before our mission to the Wave Country. I admit I ignored him and afterwards he mostly trained with Zabuza and Haku.

I'll have to rectify that after the second exam. Wouldn't want to be completely useless to him.

Sigh.

Now, I'm depressed again. Stupid council had the nerve to forbid me to train Naruto. Whether he made it in the third part or not. Stupid old farts…

Anyway, I can still see him, treat him to ramen or something. And I'll find him a decent teacher if it isn't going to be me. I'll honestly tell him what's going on and hope he doesn't hate me.

And if they even think about not allowing me near my blonde, I'll-

Sigh.

I'm doing it again. I'm calling Naruto mine again. I really need to stop doing that. He's way too young to be with me.

It's true that I finally admitted to myself that I'm attracted to him. Well, mostly the older version.

…

Then again, the young version is quite adorable too!

In any case, I'll just have to wait. In a couple of years he'll be even more gorgeous and THEN I can make him mine. I might be a pervert, but I'm not a pedophile.

I'm talking to myself again.

Anyway, right now I'm in the Forest of Death. In the tower, to be exact. Waiting for my students to arrive. I have faith in them. I know they'll make it here and pass this exam.

The jounin of the only sand team looks smug at one of the monitors. His students have arrived. The arrogant bastard.

Suddenly something catches my attention on one of the other screens. Are those… Yes, my students. Iruka arrives when they open the scrolls. Then the chunin rushes over to the genin. I move closer to the screen to see what's going on.

Then I see it. Naruto is being supported by both his teammates. And… blood.

I curse loudly and speed out of the chamber, toward the room the medics have set up. I know that Iruka will have taken him there. Vaguely I'm aware of the Hokage next to me.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

still Kakashi's P.O.V.:

I hate waiting. I tend to avoid it (mostly by always being late).

This time, however, I don't have a choice. The medics are still working on Naruto. Earlier there was a little scene with one of the medics. He had refused to treat Naruto. That didn't last long with a concerned Hokage, an overprotective Iruka, a furious Haku and me in the room. Needless to say I'm proud of the fact that I can terrorize people with just one look. Luckily Haku insisted on helping the idiot with his work. The boy might not be a full fledged medic but he'll be able to stop the other one if he's trying something.

Just then, Sasuke barges into the room. His face is completely red and the Sharingan is spinning as he throws off the ninja that are trying to stop him from entering the room. Behind him is one of the Sand genin, the one with red hair. Sakura is nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?!" screamed the raven.

The Hokage and Iruka are surprised. It seemed they didn't know the Naruto and Sasuke were like brothers.

"He's being treated right now." I answer him, when nobody else seemed to want to.

His right eye twitched.

"I should have known. GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"

"UCHIHA SASUKE! THESE MEDICS ARE TRYING TO HELP NARUTO! DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!" screamed Iruka angry.

"SAVING? BY TRYING TO HEAL HIM, THEY'LL JUST KILL HIM FASTER! GET HIM OUT AND BRING JIRAIYA HERE!"

The Hokage stopped Iruka from answering.

"Sasuke, what are you talking about?"

"Look, I know you don't understand, but trust me. I know what I'm talking about. We'll explain everything later. Please?"

The Hokage was doubting.

"Hokage-sama. If anyone would know something like this about Naruto, it would be Sasuke. I request you listen to him."

I had to do something, right?


	16. Chapter 16: Making excuses

Sasuke's P.O.V.:

The Hokage was clearly thinking over what Kakashi-sensei had said. Good, although he should skip that whole part and just let us in! Stupid old man, he doesn't understand how serious this is! Naruto doesn't have time for this! The nervous feeling I've been having since Iruka took him away is increasing. This was wrong, I shouldn't be here, waiting for the Hokage to make a decision.

But then, why am I?

I look at Gaara. The redhead is looking at me, waiting to see what I will do. It is strange for the future Kazekage to look to others for guidance, but then again he's not the Kazekage right now. If he would try something on his own, things would turn bad for him. He was still a Genin from another village.

I nod at him and make a minute, passive movement with my hand and he nods back. I hope he understands what I'm trying to tell him. Anyway, I rush toward the door and burst my way into the room where Naruto is, Gaara behind me. I smirked when I notice the scene I ran in to. Haku was just done beating up a medic-nin.

xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx—xx

Normal P.O.V.:

"What is the meaning of this?" asked the Hokage, shocked.

The medic had passed out. Haku turned towards the five who had just entered. After, the two Genin, the Hokage, Iruka and Kakashi had followed.

"I have no idea what this bastard tried to do, but he only made Naruto's wounds worse!" said Haku.

Sasuke looked smugly at the older shinobi. His face clearly said 'I told you so'. When they turned their attention to the blonde, they noticed his wounds hadn't simply gotten worse, but now there were just more of them. Before their eyes new wounds formed and old wounds healed. A painful frown was on his face and blood was leaking everywhere. Overall, the blonde had seen better days.

"So, Sasuke, ready to explain?" demanded the Hokage.

"Not quite, Hokage-sama."

The others in the room frowned and Iruka looked ready to explode.

"You have to understand, this will probably be S-classed information. I believe it best to inform a minimum of people. For example not everyone here knows about the two other secrets Naruto has."

"Hmmm..."

The Hokage thought about this. "I don't know who Naruto told, but I believe that everyone in this room should hear your explanation. Except, maybe, your friend from Suna."

"I already know," was Gaara's simple retort to that statement.

"Alright, it's your decision, Hokage-sama. Now, you all know about Naruto's Bloodline right?"

They all nodded, even Iruka. Kakashi sat himself on the bed, next to the blonde, while Haku and Iruka stood on the other side of the bed. The Hokage and the two Genin stood. Once everyone was a bit more comfortable, Sasuke continued. "His bloodline is, first of all, is affinitive to water. Second, comes Wind, which he needs to create ice. As most of you know," He looked at Haku, seeing that the boy wasn't informed, "Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, was sealed into him." Haku looked a bit surprised at this but ignored it for now. "Naruto and I did a bit of research and we discovered that Kyuubi has fire-based chakra. Fire and water clash. He can't even attempt to use both at the same time. It hurts him a lot. Now if you add wind to the whole mess, which helps create ice as well as blazing fire, you get this."

"That may be true, but Naruto isn't usually troubled by this, so why now?" asked Kakashi frowning.

"True, but while in the forest, we ran into a Grass-nin. He did something to Naruto's seal. I believe it messes with Naruto's control on both his blood limit and Kyuubi's chakra. He claimed to be called Orochimaru."

"What?" shouted both Kakashi and Iruka.

"I was informed my old student had infiltrated the exams as a ninja from Kusagakure, but why would he go after Naruto?" mused Sarutobi.

"I believe Naruto was just in his way. Originally he came after me," stated Sasuke, as if that explained everything. Which it did. "Before he could do more, Gaara arrived. We fought him together and he left soon after. "

"Well, if that's true, let's take a look at that seal. I myself know a bit about seals," said the Hokage.

Haku nodded and cut Naruto's shirt in half. Once he had removed Naruto's shirt, Sarutobi came forward.

The young Hyouton specialist moved out of his way, but stayed close enough to see what was going on. Just like everyone else. There was a tense atmosphere when Sarutobi coated his hand in chakra, lowering it to where he knew the seal was. Almost immediately said seal appeared and not long after that, so did the seal Orochimaru had placed. Sarutobi frowned slightly, but when he looked up, he smiled softly.

"Iruka, I want you to go back to the room where the other Chuunin are waiting. You still have a task to fulfill during the rest of the exam."

The brunette started to protest, but the Hokage cut him of quickly. "Don't worry about Naruto. He'll be fine."

The academy teacher bowed and reluctantly left the room.

"Now, Haku, why don't you go see if there are other patients that need tending to?"

Haku clearly recognized the question as a subtle order and left as well. Only Sasuke, Gaara, Kakashi and the Hokage were left (the medic had been dragged out earlier). Sarutobi turned toward the two Genin with a frown on his face.

"So, now the two of you can start explaining what exactly is going on here."

"Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi hesitantly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I would like to know how they know each other, how they know more about Naruto's bloodline and his seal than I do and how they know about Jiraiya and Orochimaru."

Sasuke and Gaara remained stoic, like always. Gaara had decided before he and Sasuke barged in to let Sasuke do all the talking. Sasuke stood emotionless, because that's how Uchiha are. He was, however, relieved that he had thought about situations like this before. So now, he had his answers ready.

"Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru are Sanin, so of course I know about them. They are famous in the ninja world. I did do my homework in the academy, you know." He was able to sound both insulted and bored at the same time. "As for knowing more about Naruto's bloodline and seal, you can't blame me for knowing more than you do. Especially if you didn't bother to check them yourself. Since Naruto told me about Kyuubi, we started learning about seals. Just so we knew what to expect or what to do if something went wrong. And I told you before that both Naruto and I studied his bloodline once he activated it."

"And Gaara?"

"Well, what can I say, is Naruto brought him home a couple of days ago. From what I understand, they met earlier that day and Naruto decided to introduce me. He's been staying at the Uchiha estate since then."

Sasuke watched the Hokage with a piercing glare. "Are your questions answered now? Can we help Naruto then?"

"Of course, let me."

The Hokage lowered his hand again and symbols burning with chakra appeared at his fingertips.

"You do know what you are doing, don't you?" asked Gaara in his best Kazekage-voice.

"Of course I do. Who do you think taught Jiraiya and Orochimaru the basics of sealing?" the Hokage smiled.

He delicately brought his hand down and touched Orochimaru's seal, which started to disappear. A relieved sigh went through the room when nothing else happened.

Then Kyuubi's chakra lashed out. They had to back off to not hurt themselves. Naruto, however, didn't seem in as much pain anymore. The wounds he had were healing. When Sasuke saw a wound vanish that looked like the beginning of a Chidori-wound, he realized that they weren't just random wounds. They were all the wounds Naruto had ever had, even from the future. Sasuke thanked Kami silently. If Naruto's old Chidori-wound had come though, Kakashi would have recognized it. They would have been in a lot of trouble. In this timeline, Kakashi was still the only one who could use that technique. Luckily, the jounin hadn't recognized the wound.

But that wasn't the only thing that happened. Just when Sasuke thought everything was alright, Naruto began to grow.

It wasn't much. The blond would always be rather short. Everyone in the room was staring as Naruto slowly grew older before their eyes. It was luck that both Kakashi and the Hokage had seen what Naruto looked like when his bloodline was activated. Otherwise they might have thought him to be an intruder. Now, he resembled a slightly younger version of that form, without the tail. He looked 16 years old. Naruto was taller than before, his hair had grown longer, with blue streaks that matched the color of his eyes. But he still had his whisker marks. When Sasuke saw Naruto's old Chidori-scar appear, he quickly covered the blond with a blanket.

The raven felt like hitting his head. Not that he did, mind you. How were they going to explain this? But it seemed he didn't have to think about that now. Naruto was waking up. Slowly, the blonde tried to open his eyes. Confused the now 16-year old looked around. He noticed the Hokage first. His expression didn't change when he observed the old man. But when his gaze moved to Kakashi, his eyes softened a bit. Then he saw Sasuke and he extended his hand to the raven.

"Nii-san?"

"Hai?"

Sasuke moved closer to take Naruto's hand in his, when …

"Did I die again?"

The hand that was supposed to take Naruto's didn't finish his movement. Instead it hit his forehead, rather hard.

"No, you didn't." answered Gaara softly.

"Again?" asked Kakashi softly.

Sasuke ignored his sensei. He took Naruto's hand and sat next to him.

"No, Naruto, you didn't die. Orochimaru messed with your seal, remember?"

"Ah, yes, snake bastard," muttered Naruto. "What happened? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"We don't know what happened, but you changed. You … grew older."

"Older … as in, much older?"

The blonde's face didn't show any emotion, as if he had been expecting something like this.

"Three years, give or take."

"Damn that hentai!"

"Who?" asked Gaara confused.

"Kyuubi. You remember how much he kicked on my sex life, right? Well, I knew he was frustrated because I'm 12 again. I told him he just had to wait until I was of legal age once again. But he didn't like that and it seemed he decided to do something about it and mess with my body."

"Naruto …"

"Yes, Gaara?"

"Will you please watch who is in the room before you start to say things like that?"

"Huh?"

"Look around." Sasuke gritted through his teeth.

"Huh? Ohm … hehe, Oops?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Oops, he says. Why doesn't that surprise me."Gaara muttered.

"You will now tell me exactly what is going on here. No more excuses! Naruto … " demanded Sarutobi.

Gone was the friendly old man. In his place was now a war-hardened shinobi.

"Why do I have to? Why can't Sasuke or Gaara explain?" The boy whined.

"Naruto!" Sandaime snapped.

"Fine, fine. In short, we already went through all this stuff before. Orochimaru declaired war on Konoha after the exams, with Sound – of which he is the Kage – and later on he temporarily joined the Akatsuki. They destroyed Konoha, everybody died and Kyuubi sent the three of us back in time, to change the future."

The Hokage frowned. "And now, tell us the story again, but this time be serious."

Sasuke sighed. "He was. We truly are from the future. But we can't tell you in detail what will happen, because it would change too much. If that were to happen, we won't be able to predict what's going to happen anymore."

"How do you expect me to believe that if you won't tell me what will happen?" asked the Hokage skeptically.

"I have an idea." Sasuke offered. "Naruto, show them the scar on your chest."

"It's back? Oh boy…" sighed the blonde.

"Scar? What scar?" asked the Hokage.

"First, I would like to ask Kakashi-sensei some questions."

The white-haired man shook himself out of his stupor. The news about his time-traveling students had shocked him a bit.

"Sure, what do you need to know?"

"Right now, you're the only one who can use the Chidori, right?"continued Sasuke.

"Yes."

"And you know what the wound of such an attack looks like?"

"Of course."

"And you would never use it on any of your students, right? Even if you didn't particulary like that student?" asked Naruto softly.

"Of course NOT! And don't say stupid things like that!" Kakashi hissed indignantly.

"We just needed to know."

Then he turned to Naruto and everyone else followed his example. Naruto fidgeted a bit when he removed the blanket from his chest. The scar Sasuke had giving him at the Valley of the End was clear to see. The Uchiha cringed when he saw it. To him, it symbolized the worst mistake he ever made. He would never forgive himself for nearly killing his best friend a couple of times. No matter if Naruto himself had forgiven him. The wound had healed nicely. It wasn't an ugly scar anymore, but it was clearly visible. The moment he saw the scar, Kakashi rushed forward.

"Who did this?"

"That doesn't matter." Naruto said offhandedly.

"I want to know who used the technique I invented to try to kill my student."

"Well, we won't tell you! That person made a mistake, they apologized, we made up and I forgave them a long time ago. It's over and done."

"I will find out. One way or another." The copy-nin bristled with rage.

Naruto frowned, but looked back just as determined at the cyclops.

"In any case," interrupted Gaara, breaking the staring contest, "you clearly recognized the scar. Now do you believe us?"

"For now. What are your plans for the rest of the exams?" asked Sarutobi carefully.

"We're trying to get through them with as little casualties as possible," informed Gaara.

"Aha," said the old man softly. "Casualties… Is there anything you want to tell me?"

The three boys looked at each other.

"During the third part of the exam," started Naruto "make sure you're never alone. That's all we can tell you."

"It'll do. Now at least I know to expect something."

The Hokage lit his pipe, as he usually did while thinking. The room stayed silent for some time. Kakashi sat himself next to the blonde. Sasuke sat at Naruto's other side and covered the scar again with the blanket. Naruto smiled at him softly to let him know that everything was alright. Sasuke just lowered his eyes and once again grabbed his hand. Naruto squeezed it lightly to reassure his friend. Gaara was, luckily, the only one who noticed the exchange.

"I think it's time I left. I have some arrangements to make. Naruto, I suggest you go looking for Jiraiya after this part of the exam. As you'll probably know what's going to happen next. I know he's here somewhere."

"Don't worry, Jiji (grandpa). I know where to find the old pervert," grinned the blond.

"Eh…good. Ask him to help you with some seals to hide your new looks from the Byakugan."

"I can do that later on myself. I was studying seal mastery before I died."

"Fine, now I suggest you get some rest. As you all know, you'll need it. "

With that, the Hokage left. Sasuke and Gaara left soon after. It was only Kakashi and Naruto in the hospital room.

"Say, sensei, do you mind me being older than you thought I was?" asked Naruto hesitantly.

"It's surprising, to say the least. But I don't mind." Kakashi smiled reassuringly.

Naruto sighed in relief.

"I'm glad."

"But I have to admit, I'm curious about that sex life you talked about," said the Jounin with his famous one-eyed-smile, but there was a curiously amused edge around his where is mouth was.

The blonde promptly choked on his saliva and blushed.

"Ero-sensei!" Naruto yelled indignantly.

"How old were you before you died, anyway?" asked the other as he laughed at the now teenaged boy's respond.

"Twenty-one."

"So, technically, right now, you're only five years younger than I am..."The copy-nin struck a thinking pose.

"I guess…"

Naruto was thinking too. Maybe with this, he could start earlier with Kakashi. Last time, his lover had been difficult about the age difference. It had really bothered him that Naruto had been thirteen years his senior. He had insisted to wait until Naruto was of legal age to have sex with the blonde, to the frustration of the latter. But now, he was already legal and he looked sixteen. Naruto hoped they could make this work. He knew Kakashi was already attracted to him. He just had to push the man in the right direction.

"So, Kashi, a few days ago you said something about a dinner date at Ichiraku's. How about we do just that, after this part of the exams?" Naruto asked hopefully, smiling innocently.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a second to hide his surprise at the question. Not that he wasn't pleased, mind you.

"Sure." He shrugged, as if he weren't tingling with excitement on the inside.

Not the enthusiastic reaction Naruto had hoped for, but when he saw the soft look in the other's eye as Kakashi studied him he didn't really mind. Beside, it would do. For now.

"Wait, what did you just call me?"


	17. Chapter 17: The Second Exam, part 2 !

The second exam was almost over. In less than 2 hours all the remaining participants were to gather. Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara were in the blond's room. Naruto and Sasuke were playing with cards and Gaara was staring out of the window.

"I've been thinking." Stated the redhead softly.

The other two looked at him.

"About?" asked Sasuke when Gaara didn't continue.

"Earlier, we said we couldn't tell others about what will happen. It got me thinking. Would it really matter?"

"Of course it would." Said Sasuke.

"Really? We already changed so much. I'm not a crazy killer anymore. I won't fight against the two of you … I won't even start about all the changes you made. Do you really think that what we know once happened, will happen again? It would be dangerous to assume so. We need to consider other options."

The Konoha shinobi thought it over.

"You know, Gaara does have a point. Haku and Zabuza are still alive and in Konoha. Our team can actually be called a team this time around, Shukaku is sealed, I'm not the class clown anymore and Sasuke doesn't have the curse mark of Orochimaru." Counted Naruto on his fingers.

"You forget your bloodline that activated 5 years earlier." Said Sasuke. "And you are both right. The only thing we can still count on is that there will be an invasion from Sound and Sand. But we can't be sure about the details or what will happen afterwards."

" Hey, maybe the old man won't die this time!" said Naruto smiling.

"True but what about Tsunade. It would be good for the village if she returned." Said Sasuke.

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure we'll find a way. Let's worry about the exams first. Let's hope the preliminaries go as we remember."

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

So there they were, listening to the boring speech of the Hokage. Or at least, they were pretending to listen. It wasn't like Naruto hadn't heard it before. In short, the Hokage just explained that their were too many participants. Only the best could remain, since the exams were like a mini-war between the hidden villages. Big paying clients, like the daimyos would come watch the third part, so the 'higher-ups' in the shinobi world didn't feel like showing the lords some of their weaker shinobi.

So now the weaker ninja had to go. Welcome to the second exam part 2!

Of course Sarutobi didn't actually say that last part like that, but it was implied …

Honestly, it was.

Once the lecture was over the board announced the names of the 2 genin who would be fighting first. Naruto sighed relieved. Seemed like this hadn't changed. Sasuke and Kabuto's teammate stayed into the arena, while the others moved higher up.

Naruto whispered a soft "Ganbatte" at the raven before he joined the others.

The first match was rather boring, at least to Naruto. Even before the match started the other nin arrogantly told Sasuke to dodge him because he (the moron) was going to steal his (Sasuke's) chakra. Even Naruto sweat dropped at that. Once the fight started, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and avoided all the blows of his opponent. And with one big fire-jutsu the fight was over. It hadn't even lasted 5 minutes.

While the others congratulated Sasuke on an amazing match, Naruto grinned.

"Getting lazy, are you?" He asked jokingly.

Sasuke smirked.

"It was too troublesome."

Naruto burst out laughing, while the others were confused. Kakshi ruffled Sasuke's hair, causing the raven to scowl. Naruto just laughed. Then it was Shino's match against zaku from Sound. Afterwards came Tenten, Shikamaru and a couple of other matches and they had 1 thing in common. They were exactly how Naruto remembered them. It felt good to know they hadn't changed too much. Sakura's fight, however left both Naruto and Sasuke stunned. What happened?

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"What?" asked Sasuke irritated.

"What is going on here? I thought you trained Sakura before the exams, but this is …"

The raven scowled angrily.

"No need to try and hide it, Naruto. Nothing changed. Not a damn thing changed! It's exactly the same as last time. I put up with her, trained her for hours and there is absolutely no result!"

"Well, I believe she's a bit faster, this time around." Tried Naruto.

"Not enough to make a difference !"

In the end, Sakura's match ended just like before: a tie with Ino.

Neither passed.

Halfway Shikamaru's match, Haku joined them. Since he felt bored, Naruto started to talk with, rather than pay attention to the fights. Sasuke had to hit him on his arm to gain his attention when it was his turn. Naruto felt nervous. He still hadn't decided how to fight to match. Play it safe and reenact the same fight or show everyone what he was capable off.

Suddenly, a loud voice made him look up.

"All right, Akamaru. We got lucky. We'll win this for sure. It's like they handed us a free ticket to the next exam!"

Naruto felt his blood boil and glared at Kiba.

"Che, that dog is still an idiot. Nothing new." Grumbled Sasuke.

Naruto's lip twitched at Sasuke's comment, but he was still ticked off. Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around, so they could look at each other while talking.

"Don't listen to him. Just calm down. Go down there and prove him wrong. I know you can." Reassured the jounin.

At his sensei's words, Naruto felt his anger disappear. He smiled softly at the man and nodded.

"Whatever you do during this fight, I'll be back you up. I'm proud of you." Smiled the older man.

Naruto smiled again. He quickly made his way down before anyone saw the tears in his eyes.

Kiba hadn't stopped bragging on his way down. He was still going strong when the referee started the match. Overconfident, Kiba threw a punch at the blond. Naruto saw it coming and blocked it. Kiba snarled. He jumped away and crouched to the ground. Akamaru jumped on his back and they performed their 'beast-mimicry'-jutsu which transformed both of them in wild Kiba-clones. They launched a smoke bomb and dived in. but Naruto was prepared. Once the smoke cleared, Kiba was panting, but he wore a smug smile. The dog ninja knew they had hit something.

But he was not prepared for the ice-dome that appeared where the blond had been. Most shinobi iin the stands were shocked. Those who weren't were smiling knowingly. Asuma, Kurenai and Gai immediately turned towards Kakashi. They wanted an explanation, but Kakashi didn't feel the need to indulge them.

"It's a bloodline. As such I can't tell you about it."

Oh, how he loved pissing people off!

The other jounin obviously wanted to ask more questions when they were interrupted by Ino.

"I didn't know Naruto had a bloodline. How can that be? He's supposed to be some dead-last loser."

Before Kakashi or Sasuke could react, Sakura hit Ino on her head, hard.

"Hey, what's that for?" cried Ino indignant.

"You can't insult Naruto! If I can't, then nobody will! Besides, Sasuke-kun doesn't like it." Exclaimed Sakura angry.

Massive sweatdrop.

They focused on the fight once more. The ice had melted and circled the blond (like Gaara's sand) and Naruto smiled his most innocent smile.

"Didn't expect that from the dead-last, did you?"

"Whatever, loser. I just went easy on you. I'll get you this time." Replied one of the Kiba's.

Naruto just shook his head as they attacked once more. His hand pointed towards the two Kiba's and the water rushed forwards. It slammed into both of them and blew them backwards. Both disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, and a normal-looking Kiba and Akamaru appeared. They were panting hard. The water slowly moved up their bodies in a thin layer. Both started to freak out when the water started to freeze. Naruto continued to smile while he transformed Kiba and his puppy into ice sculptures.

Up in the stands, Kakashi was chuckling. It was just to funny. Haku, who stood next to him, smiled softly and was happily cheering for the blond. Sasuke smirked ( as always).

"Kakashi, just what did you teach your students? Elemental jutsu are far too advanced for rookie genin. First Sasuke and his fire-jutsu, which i can understand to a point. Uchiha have a fire-affinity after all. But Naruto, … he's not ready for this stuff." Said Asuma seriously.

"Frankly, I don't see what your complaining about. They are just training their clan abilities, just like your students. Shikamaru Nara's shadow possession jutsu and Ino Yamanaka's mind jutsu are prime examples." Replied Kakashi irritated.

Like it was their business what he thought his students. It's not like he went around and told them what they could and couldn't teach their team.

"Yes, well, that's just it, Kakashi. They're clan jutsu. Naruto doesn't have a clan." Said Kurenai slowly, like she was talking to a five-year old.

Oh, the nerve of some people!

"It's not because someone's parents are dead, that they can't have a clan. I should know." Interrupted Sasuke. His Sharingan was spinning while he glared at the women.

"I – I didn't mean … " stuttered Kurenai in resemblance of Hinata.

"Besides, Hatake-san is a good sensei. It would be very irresponsible to not teach someone of their bloodline. Our bloodline more than others, since emotions are the key to control it." Commented Haku.

"Your bloodline? Who are you again?" asked Ino rudely.

"It is quiet rude to not introduce themselves when asking the name of an other." Frowned Haku. "I'm Haku, Naruto's cousin."

Ino looked embarrassed , but made no move to introduce herself. She probably thought Haku was a girl and not worthy of her time.

"I didn't know Naruto still had family." Stated Asuma.

"We only recently found out." Explained Haku friendly, while Gai was yelling in the background about 'youth'. "Oh look, I think it's over."

And indeed, Kiba and Akamaru were covered in ice. Only their head was still free, so they could breath. The proctor proclaimed Naruto the winner and the blond made his way back up. He ignored all the stares directed his way. His teammates congratulated him, Haku hugged him and Kakashi laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"I'm proud off you. Good job."

Naruto grinned.

The rest of the matches were all the same, except for Gaara's. This time he didn't crush lee's legs. And just like before Naruto promised to beat Neji to a pulp for what he did to Hinata. But all in all, the 3 time-travelers were glad. There hadn't been to many changes.


	18. Chapter 18: training and a date?

The day after the preliminaries, Kakashi took his team to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate. While they were eating their food, Kakashi had finished some time ago, he explained what would happen next.

"Now as you all know, Sasuke and Naruto have a whole month to prepare for the next round of the exams. Sakura, you are free to do as you please during this time. But if you wish to train, and I would recommend it, you can go to Kurenai and her team. Shino will be training with his clan, so there's a place for you. As for both Sasuke and Naruto, I had planned to divide my time between you two, but the council interfered and ordered me to spend all my time training Sasuke. Gomen (1), Naruto."

"Is this because of my Sharingan?"

"It's probably one of the reasons." Said Kakashi vaguely.

"Don't worry, sensei. I know just the man to go to." Exclaimed Naruto.  
Kakashi smiled. Glad the blond didn't make a fuss.

"How about I treat you this evening to make it up to you?"

Naruto pretended to think about it for a while.

"Sure, it's a date! Come pick me up at seven."

And with that the blond left, running towards Konoha's hot springs.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Once Naruto arrived at said hot springs, he immediately spotted the man he was looking for. The old pervert was once again busy 'researching', as he liked to call it. Naruto, on the other hand, simply called it peeping.

Naruto snickered. This would be entertaining. Silently he snuck up behind Jiraiya and whispered in his ear.

"I won't tell the women inside your peeping on them if you let me sign your toad summon contract."

The legendary Sage jumped in fright and shakily grabbed his heart.

"Ssh, sh! Be quiet, gaki (2) and don't scare me like that!"

"So does that mean you agree with my deal? Sweet! Let's get going!" grinned the blond.

He grabbed the man's arm and dragged him away. Or at least, he tried to. Jiraiya however, frowned and refused to move.

"Oi, gaki, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm taking you to a training field of course. An empty one, preferably."

"Why?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Because you just agreed to train me." Said Naruto slowly.

He felt like talking to a five-year old. Was his sensei always this slow?

"I never agreed to anything like that. Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And you don't need to do your usual introduction dance-thingy. I know who you are, ero-sennin."

"Don't call me that, gaki." Said Jiraiya irritated.

"Besides, " continued Naruto as if he hadn't been interrupted. " I gave you a good deal. I won't alert the women in the baths and you let me sign your summon contract. And by doing so, I'd become your apprentice. Which in turn means you have to train me. You don't want to feel embarrassed of me when I yell to the world you trained me, ne?"

Jiraiya gaped at him, mouth wide open.

"Anyway, let's go somewhere else to argue about this. Or do you want to alert the women of our presence?"

Jiraiya paled again and quickly nodded.

"Follow me."

Smiling Naruto did as he was told.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Now tell me, gaki, why would I take you as my apprentice? Last I knew you were dead-last in the academy."

They were in a clearing in the woods surrounding the village.

"Eeh, I didn't know you researched my life in detail like that. Am I special or do you do that for all academy students?" grinned Naruto slyly.

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows. Observant kid.

"Don't flatter yourself –"

"Oh, I'm not. I don't really like having you 'research' me. You haven't been peeping on me, have you?" said Naruto frowning.

Jiraiya couched and continued as if he hadn't heard Naruto. "Prove to me you are actually worthy of my time."

"Mou, there is no need to be so difficult. I know you'll teach me to summon frogs and later, you'll even teach me the Rasengan."

"How? How do you know that?" smirked the hermit.

'I know because I can see the future." Said Naruto seriously.

The sage immediately burst out laughing. After a few seconds, Naruto joined him.

"T-that's a g-good one, kid" laughed Jiraiya.

"I know right;" smiled Naruto. "I mean, who would believe that? No no, my explanation is o lot more believable. I actually died at age 23 and woke up as my 12-year old self. I literally travelled from your future to my past!"

Jiraiya took a serious look at Naruto and started laughing again.

Naruto waited patiently till he was done.

It was hard to believe after all.

…

Besides, the man would run out of oxygen soon enough. So Jiraiya would control his laughter and listen to his story or die because he couldn't breathe. Either way, the laughter would stop.

When he finally stopped laughing, he looked at Naruto expectantly.

"What?"

"Are you going to tell me the truth or not."

"I just did. And if you don't believe me, you can go ask you old teacher. He can vouch for me!"

"Mou, just tell me already." Whined Jiraiya. "I don't want to let the old man know I'm back yet. He'll give me lots of work."

Naruto sweat dropped.

"But I already told you the truth. I really did travel through time. I'm not even the only one! Two others came as well."

"You really believe that, don't you." Stated Jiraiya.

"No, actually I don't. I just like to mess with people." Said Naruto sarcastically, with a sneer on his face. "Of course it's true! You already thought me how to summon Gamabunta and I've almost mastered the rasengan. I just need to sign the contract to be able to summon toads! And if people see me use skills only you know, they'll get suspicious. So train me already!"

"Prove it. Show me your rasengan."

"With pleasure!"

Naruto created a clone and did just that. He still needed a clone to make a rasengan, but he could do it much faster than before. He could see the old pervert was impressed.

"Right, seeing the Yondaime never wrote down how to do this technique and I'm the only one alive who can form a rasengan, I tentatively believe you. Now let's see if you can summon Gamabunta and then we'll talk seriously."

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Naruto starred at the mirror. His sixteen-year old, whiskerless reflection starred back. Even if he said so himself, he looked damn good. He was standing in his and Sasuke's bathroom in the Uchiha estate, hoping that Kakashi knew he didn't live in his appartment anymore.

It was nearly seven and soon Kakashi would be here. If the jounin wasn't late, of course. He looked at himself again. He wore a sky blue t-shirt, baggy black pants and combat boots. They were all new. He'd just bought them this afternoon. While he was talking with Jiraiya and Gamabunta, he had released his henge. He hadn't noticed before but his clothes were too small for him. So he went and got some new ones.

He was very nervous. It was after all his first date with Kakashi, again. Then again, was it a date? He wasn't quite sure. The man had only wanted to repay him for not training him. It had been Naruto himself who had made it a date. And then he had run off. Stupid! He should have waited for Kashi's reaction! Did the man want this to be a date? Or did he think Naruto was just joking?

Aaarggghhh! He felt like pulling his hair. Thinking like this was only making him more nervous!

Someone rang the doorbell. He glanced at the clock that hung in the kitchen, while he made his way to the door. A little early to be Kakashi. He answered it and was pleasantly surprised. It was indeed Kakashi. Seemed like the jounin knew he had moved. And the man didn't wear his standard uniform. He wore baggy pants much as his own and a green shirt.

"Yo."

There was the usual greeting. It made Naruto feel weak in his knees and he blushed.

"Hey."

"Shall we go?"

"Sure."

Soon they were walking through the streets of the city.

"So, what's with the henge? Why did you drop it?"

"Don't you like me this way?" asked Naruto shyly.

"Oh no, I do like you like this. I just wondered."

"Well, most villagers don't like. Some restaurants and shops won't sell edible food to the Kyuubi-brat. Since I didn't know where we were going, I thought this might help. They don't seem to recognize me like this."

"I didn't know they treated you that way." Frowned Kakashi.

"Ohw, it's been worse. The other shinobi leave me alone. It's mostly the civilians. But, anyway, how was training?"

Kakashi of course noticed the sudden change of subject, but he didn't insist. He could always dig a bit more later.

"Oh, it was ok. We didn't start training yet. We went over what Sasuke already can do."

"Really?"

"Yes, he even told me about that scar of yours." Frowned Kakashi.

Ohoh…

"Is he alright?"

"Of course, he explained it to me and while I was angry, I didn't hurt him. I did promise him hell for tomorrow though."

And there was his famous one-eyed smile. But this time it send chills trough him.

"And how did your training go? Did you find a teacher?"

"Yeah, I easily found him. Ero-sennin was a bit difficult to convince, but I managed."

"Ero-sennin?"

"That's what I call him, since he's a pervert and he writes those books you love so much. Other's know him a Jiraiya."

He could almost see the clogs in Kakashi's head, working on something.

"Don't even think about it. If you want him to sign your books, you'll have to ask him yourself!"

Kakashi mock sighed, as if disappointed.

"Ma, we're here."

They entered a cozy little restaurant. Naruto hadn't been there before. It looked nice, higher-class then the places they went with the team, but it didn't have a very romantic setting, like for a first date. Did that mean something? About Kakashi … Was he also confused about tonight? Or did he just want to be nice?

They ordered and talked about general things. The team, exams, training,… that sort of stuff. The restaurant wasn't very private. There was this one waitress, who kept coming back to their table. She kept asking if they wanted anything else. All the while fluttering her eye-lashes and showing off her bosom. She even told them they could ask her anything they wanted. Naruto felt disgusted! Especially when she did it for both him and Kakashi.

"Shall we go?" asked Kakashi between two of her visits.

"Yes please." Breathed Naruto in relief.

He noticed Kakashi was twitching a bit. Kakashi paid and walked him back to the estate.

"Do you want to come in for a bit?" asked the blond. "Sasuke isn't here and I'll make you some tea."

Kakashi nodded and they made themselves comfortable in the living room.

"So, tell me, how well do you know me?" asked Kakashi when Naruto handed him a cup of tea.

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier you immediately knew what I would say, when you mentioned Jiraiya. It made me wonder."

"Well, you were my sensei, just like now. But in the beginning you pretty much ignored me and Sakura in favor of Sasuke. Later, you told me about the council's orders. Those idiots haven't changed at all. I left Konoha for a while with ero-sennin and when I came back, we became closer. You even helped me with my elemental abilities. So I know you quite well."

"I thought so. You even know how I like my tea." Smiled Kakashi.

Naruto blushed.

"Anyway, Naruto, how much do you trust me?"

"With my life." Said Naruto without hesitation. "I trust you with my life."

Kakashi still smiled, but it had something mischievous. Naruto became nervous again.

"Does that mean you trust me with personal things? I've been wondering about something."

"Ask away."

Naruto knew he would regret that when Kakashi began snickering.

"Well, you mentioned something about Kyuubi, a sex-life and being impatient. What was that about?"

Naruto turned red. He should have known!

"Not much, actually. Kyuubi sleeps most off the time, so I don't hear much from him. But he's a huge pervert! He just didn't like waiting again till I reached my maturity."

"So does that mean you had a lover, or … ?"

"Of course I had a lover! What exactly do you think of me, Kakashi? I'm not someone who changes lovers like girls change clothes!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just wondered if you had a meaningful relationship. Do you still love that person?"

"Hai, I do. And I hope we can have a relationship again, this time around."

"So, tell me about it. What was she like?"

Kakashi's voice had grown serious and he was focusing his gaze on Naruto. Was his eye twitching?

"I'm gay, sensei." Smiled Naruto. He felt like his face was steadily growing redder. "He was older than me, so he wanted to wait till I was off age to … become intimate. It was frustrating, but I love him none the less."

It felt embarrassing to talk to the man about their sex-life like that. Especially since they weren't together right now.

Kakashi was defiantly twitching now. His hand looked to grasping non-existing weapons. Was he …?

"Well, who is he then?"

So I can kill him.

Naruto was sure Kakashi hadn't said that last part out loud, but to Naruto it felt like he had.

Was Hatake Kakashi really jealous of … himself?

"I won't tell you." Said Naruto determined.

"Last time you didn't want to tell me something like that, I found out anyway. This time won't be any different."

Naruto smiled. "I really hope so."

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

(1) Gomen: sorry

(2) Gaki: brat, kid


	19. Third exam!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is beta'ed by Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for your hard work and for giving me that little I needed to finish this :D

The month before the third part of the Chuunin exams was over before Naruto had noticed. His date with Kakashi seemed like just yesterday and he still grinned every time he thought of Kakashi being jealous of himself.

He was standing in the stadium looking at the crowd above him. The matches were about to start and Kakashi and Sasuke still hadn't arrived. He knew they wouldn't arrive for quiet some time. If they wanted to keep the beginning of the invasion the same as in the original timeline, then Sasuke's match needed to be pushed back. He knew that, but he was still pissed.

He wanted Kakashi here so the man could see his match.

He was nervous. He had spend a lot of time in the past month trying to recall exactly what had happened the last time around. He was certain he remembered everything but they had changed so much already that he couldn't help worrying. It was stressing him out. He had barely been able to sleep, and when he did manage to fall asleep, he was plagued with nightmares. Memories of before he died were finally starting to surface. He supposed suddenly travelling to the past had delayed their reappearance but now every night he once again dreamed of his dying friends.

Last night, he had seen Kakashi. He started shaking just thinking about it. The image of Kakashi standing in front of him, protecting him, a smile on his face, a gigantic hole in his chest and splattered in blood, still haunted him. The man had fallen forward, right into Naruto's arms, whispered his last words and died.

Naruto clasped a hand on his mouth and shook his head. He tried to focus on his surroundings, in fear of losing himself in the memory and of throwing up.

"Hey, Naruto, are you feeling alright?"

A hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly. He looked up into the concerned eyes of Shikamaru.

"You look awful."

"Thanks." Naruto answered sincerely. It was easier to focus when Shikamaru was talking to him. "I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping well."

Gaara raised a single eyebrow at that comment. Apparently he was listening in on their conversation.

"If you say so." Shrugged Shikamaru, clearly not believing him. "Do you know where the Uchiha is? 'cause he's later than your sensei, and that is saying something."

"What? Kakashi is here?"

Naruto quickly looked around, trying to find Kakashi in the crowd.

"Didn't you notice? Your sensei is standing over there, with the others."

Shikamaru vaguely waved at the stand, where Naruto clearly could see his friends. Sakura, the other rookie genin, their teachers and, thank Kami, Kakashi were there, watching the participants in the arena. When Kakashi saw him looking, he waved.

Relieved, Naruto laughed. After a night of terrors, it felt good to see his soon-to-be/maybe lover alive and he shyly waved back. That was one less thing to worry about.

Genma Shiranui, the proctor of this part of the exams, beckoned the participants forwards. He once again showed them the list of fights - everything was as it was supposed to be though Naruto did vaguely wonder what had happened to the sound genin who was supposed to have an extra match against Shikamaru.

"All participants, except Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto, please go wait in the special designed waiting area. The first match will soon begin." Said Genma, while chewing on his senbon.

They did as asked and soon only Naruto and Neji remained. The crowd became quiet.

They stared at each other for a very long time and a tense silence filled the arena. Everyone leaned forward to better see if something was happening. Neither Naruto nor Neji moved, they just stood there glaring at each other.

"You do know you can begin, right?" Asked the proctor, with a raised eyebrow.

The only reaction he got was from Naruto. He raised his closed fist for Neji, and everyone else, to see.

The Hyuuga scowled. He clearly remembered Naruto's promise but for the audience's sake, Naruto repeated it.

"I vow to win."

As Neji quickly got into stance, Naruto finally felt his nerves disappear and he grinned. He knew he could do this. He used to spar with Neji all the time in the future so he knew the prodigy's fighting style almost as well as Sasuke's. He started doing some basic stretches and almost started laughing when he saw Neji twitching.

Once again the start signal was given, but Neji continued standing still like a statue. Naruto took a scroll out of his pocket and held it in his right hand, pointing it towards his opponent. It would be all he would need to defeat Neji. He needed the rest of his scrolls for the fight against Orochimaru later on.

He bit his thump and threw the scroll in the air. The scroll unfolded, while Naruto jumped up and smeared blood on the large seal that covered the paper. Gallons of water were unsealed and splashed the area, Neji included.

"What are you doing?" Asked the soaked Hyuuga.

"Preparing for our fight. Shouldn't you be doing the same?" answered Naruto arrogantly. "I thought you saw me fight during the preliminaries, or am I too much of a loser for you to pay attention to?"

The Hyuuga scowled.

"Don't worry, I know about your so-called bloodline. It's been the talk of the village the last month. Most people believe it to be a scam! I'll prove them right! There is no way a failure like you could ever posses a bloodline like that!"

"Oh, I wasn't worried about you not knowing. That would be an advantage for me, so I wouldn't mind. And I don't particularly care about you or the village's opinion on this matter. The people who matter to me, already know all there is to know." stated Naruto with a friendly smile, hoping to rile the other up.

Thus far, it seemed to be working. Before the proctor could remind them yet again to start the fight, Neji charged.

Kakashi felt a little irritated. However, that could be normal since Gai was talking to him. Standing in the spectator's area next to the other jounin sensei and rookie genin, he was waiting for the start of the exam.

"... and there is that hip attitude again! However I am glad you changed your ways, my eternal rival. Arriving late is so unyouthful but today, you came early..." and so on.

Why had Sasuke insisted it was necessary he come early? The brat had even blackmailed him! The nerve of young people these days.

On the other hand, it was a tempting offer: he only had to arrive on time for the finals and the brat would reveal the name of the man he needed to murder! Yes, he would kill the bastard who would be, or had once been, Naruto's lover!

Preferably without Naruto knowing he was responsible. Hmmm, he still had so much planning to do... and so little time.

"Hey look, Naruto arrived! I was afraid he wouldn't make it in time. But there is still no sign of Sasuke-kun" exclaimed Sakura.

Indeed the blond had arrived, though he looked a bit sick, with bags under his eyes and very pale.

Kakashi frowned. Naruto had just put his hand in front of his mouth and the boy gained a sickly green color. What could be wrong?

Luckily, he saw the Nara-boy started talking to his favorite blond. He saw Naruto's eyes roam the crowd, looking for someone. They locked eyes. Kakashi smiled and waved at the boy, who for all everyone knew looked like he was 12, but whom Kakashi knew was actually 21 years old.

Naruto smiled back and waved. But he was so subdued, almost shy, like that time he took the blond out to eat. And were his eyes betraying him or did Naruto look relieved to see him? Why? Had something happened or was something supposed to happen?

He decided to keep a close eye on him, just in case. Plus it offered him a valid excuse to stare at bit more at Naruto. All shinobi, jounin-ranked and higher, had been warned for the fight that would soon start. They had all been told to watch the Suna jinchuuriki for the start signal of the invasion and the third Hokage had explained that Gaara had come to him with crucial information. He hadn't told them the whole story, like Naruto's and Sasuke's involvement, nor about the time travel involved but Kakashi didn't care. After all it was the Hokage who decided what he would tell his troupes. The Kage was still the military dictator of the hidden village and, although the council could usually do what they wanted, they couldn't argue with him over this.

As long as Kakashi knew everything there was to know, that was alright. They were his students after all.  
And while he understood the time travellers' reasoning, he didn't like not knowing what to expect.

He just hoped everything would turn out all right.  
Both boys were still exchanging some sort of trash-talk when Neji suddenly charged. Naruto easily dodged his blows and it made Kakashi wonder how well they knew each other, or rather how well Naruto knew Neji, because the blond had obviously done this before. Well, it was obvious to those who knew where to look. Naruto's movements were precise, the boy knew how to counter the Hyuuga taijutsu style.

Naruto's moves were fluent., like he himself was made out of water. It was beautiful to watch it looked as if the boy was dancing.

Then, without warning, the water slowly rose from the ground. While the two shinobi were trading blows, bubbles of all sizes were forming in the air and with the sun shining brightly, the effect was magnificent!

"Ah, he's got that from me." Said a soft voice at Kakashi's left. Turning slightly, he saw Haku and his older lover, Zabuza, sitting a bit further away.

"The brat better make this move count." Muttered Zabuza bored. "This is taking too long."

Apparently, watching genin fight each other in a tournament like this, without horrible bloodshed, wasn't entertaining enough for the demon of the bloody mist.

Haku turned out to be right when the bubble soon turned into thousands of ice senbon. Again, without warning or any handsigns, the senbon were launched at the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Kaiten!"

As soon as the chakra dome appeared around Neji, the senbon were destroyed. "It seems you didn't do your homework, failure. My eyes have a vision of 360 degrees. Nothing can get past me." Smirked the arrogant boy.

"Che, the brat failed." Muttered Zabuza again.

"So it seems, but Naruto-kun appears to be trying again." Said Haku.

And indeed new senbon were forming.

"What is he doing?" asked Ino frowning. "He knows that attack won't work."

"I think he's searching for something." Spoke Kakshi softly. "Keep watching."

After a third time evading the senbon, Neji's hand flew to the back of his neck. He had executed his Kaiten perfectly, so how had that senbon hit him? It couldn't be... had this loser figured out his blind spot?

"Gotcha!" cried Naruto triumphantly.

"How did you know?! How did you know about my blindspot?"sneered Neji.

"I didn't. Everyone has a weakness, I just had to figure out yours." Replied the cheerful blond.

Neji cursed. They continued to throw punches until Neji decided to show his second trump card.

"You are in my range of divination."

Neji got in the required stance; one arm forward and pointing downwards with the other behind him, pointing up, then he surged forwards, hitting all of Naruto's chakra points with deadly accuracy. The blond flew back but remained standing. Arms on his knees, Naruto leaned over, head down. Neji smirked, convinced the fight was over. Then, just before the Hyuuga could start laughing, Naruto looked up, right in the other's eyes. As the straightened his back, crystalline cracks could be seen all over his body. It was like looking in a broken mirror.

"That is new." Commented Haku. "He managed to somehow make his ice into an armour that is still movable."

"He probably got the idea from that sand shinobi." Said Sakura with a bored air.

"Maybe." Muttered Kakashi. For all he knew, Gaara had gotten the idea from Naruto... Time travel was such tricky business.

The two boys sprang apart and observed each other from a distance.

"Tell me, Neji, have you found my weakness yet? It shouldn't be too hard with your special eyes." Smiled Naruto. "Or would you like to take this fight to a higher level?"

The raven laughed. "Like you could keep up with me. I admit, you managed to surprise me, but you were always destined to be a failure. Just like I was destined to serve the main branch of the Hyuuga clan!"

"Why does he suddenly bring that up? Main and side branch of a family have nothing to do with our fight..." muttered Naruto to himself. "Oh well."

He made a ram sign. The water still floating in the air began to rapidly multiply. It looked like it came out of nowhere. It certainly stunned the older boy. " Confused?" asked Naruto without any jest. "Let me help you. My bloodline allows me to manipulate water, in every form it can be found in. For example, now I'm getting it out of the air all around us. It makes it a little bit more difficult to breath, and it takes a whole lot of chakra to pull of, but it always catches people off guard.

Up in the stands, Zabuza frowned. "Can you do that, Haku? Because if you can, you've been holding out on me."

"No, I can't. We may be cousins but we're only distantly related. My bloodline allows me absolute control of ice whereas his controls water."

"Isn't that exactly the same?" Interrupted Sakura.

"On the contrary, water is all around us, in the air, nature and living things. Ice, on the other hand, is only one of the forms water can take. It's impossible to pull pure ice out of the air because there is none there to begin with. I suppose I could try to create water, like Naruto-kun, but it would take me too much chakra. If I'm lucky, it will only leave me comatose. The same goes for him. While he is able to make ice, he'll never be able to create my demonic ice mirrors." Explained Haku.

"How exactly are you related?" asked the pink haired girl interested. "No one ever explained."

"Through our mothers side of the family. After some research, I found out that only the females of our family carry the genes but the bloodline only manifests in males. Naruto would be from the main branch as his bloodline resembles the original most. At least, that's what I noticed during my research. My line branched from the main one generations ago and evolved into something different. That is why my mother had it. Of course, after the prosecutions of the people who possessed bloodlines in Kirigakure, we could possibly be the only two survivors."

"That is so sad." Commented Sakura.

"Maybe a bit, but we're just glad we found each other in time. If we hadn't, we could have ended up killing each other in Wave Country."

Back down in the arena, Neji was busy dodging various jets of water.

"It's over." came Naruto's casual remark.

Neji opened his mouth to reply but ended up choking on water. Without him knowing, he had swiftly been caged in a big ball of water, strongly resembling the water prison Zabuza had used to capture Kakashi. Neji grabbed his throat, unable to breathe.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."

Immediately, Naruto released the other boy. Spluttering and gasping for breath, Neji was lowered to the ground, turned over onto his back and tried to catch his breath. A hand was thrust in his face and he looked up to see Naruto's smiling face.

"Nice match. Do you want to spar sometime?"

The Hyuuga sighed. "Might as well."

Naruto grinned. He knew enough Hyuuga vocabulary to know that meant 'yes'.

He helped his friend up and together they faced the cheering crowd.

"Let's go."

They went to stand with the other participants, Naruto keeping a hand on Neji's arm, just to make sure the raven wouldn't kneel over.

"Next match, Subaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke."

Gaara nodded towards Naruto and slowly made his way down to the arena. And then they waited for Sasuke. Naruto saw the proctor ask the Hokage how to proceed seeing as Sasuke still hadn't arrived.

"If Uchiha Sasuke hasn't arrived in the next five minutes, he will be disqualified."

Shocked, Naruto immediately locked gazes with Gaara.

Kakashi was the only one who noticed the looks the two time travelling genin exchanged. He looked around quickly but not even the Hokage had noticed. He grimaced. Should he? Nodding to himself, he used the Shunshin no Jutsu to approach the Hokage.

"Sir, might I have a word?"

However, just as the Hokage turned to face him, feathers started to fall down from seemingly nowhere. Hastily dispelling the genjutsu, both he and Sarutobi turned towards the cackling Yondaime Kazekage as a smokebomb was released at their feet. Instinctively, all present relocated to the roof of the building, except the Hokage, who was held by the Kazekage with a kunai at his neck. Six young ninja appeared, four of whom immediately set up a barrier so ANBU couldn't interfere with the battle.

"Ninpo: Shishi Enjin" (Quad-Violet Flame Field)

Once the shield was activated, the first ANBU to touch it burst into flames. The others realized they wouldn't be able to breach it, and waited.

"I didn't expect Suna to betray Konoha." muttered the Hokage, while exchanging looks with Kakashi. The jounin didn't give any sign he had gotten orders. Turning towards the two young shinobi, he wasn't surprised to see Naruto. Sasuke, however, was a big surprise. Where did he come from? And where had Gaara gone?

"A treaty is no more than camouflage to catch an opponent of guard. The real fight starts now. This is history in the making." answered the masked man.

"Are you trying to start a war?"

"Yes."

"Violence is not a solution. There is still time to resolve this with negotiations."

"Philosophy won't safe you in your old age, Sarutobi-sensei."

"Orochimaru." said the oldest man resigned.

"I hate to interrupt, but I really don't think talking to him is going to help, Hokage-same." interrupted Sasuke.

"Well, well," said Orochimaru, finally paying attention to the other people inside the barrier. "This changes the plan. I was going to snatch you while Gaara-kun went loose on the village, but here you are."

"Well I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you." Sarutobi cut in, turning the attention of the sennin back on himself.

"So you are after both Sasuke-kun and Konoha."

"Konoha isn't that important. Your ignorance will be this village's end. I win."

"I believe I taught you that the result can't be known until the end."

"Che." and with a smirk Orochimaru peeled of the Yondaime's face to reveal his own.

"I expected this day would come. But, you won't get my head that easily."

"I told you," smirked Orochimaru, "you should have appointed a successor, Sandaime Hokage. Since you are going to die here."

"I don't plan on dying."

Looking like he was going to stab the other, Orochimaru brutally stabbed the palm of his right hand. Chuckling, he moved away.

The other three shinobi, feeling a bit forgotten, readied for an attack. As the two stood facing each other, exchanging pleasantries, Kakashi turned towards the ANBU.

"We'll back Hokage-sama up."

The leader nodded. "We'll help with the rest of the invasion. Apparently some snake summons have appeared at the walls."

"Jiraiya-sama should be there soon."

Suddenly, the two clad in kage robes leaped at each other and attacked at a speed that few could keep up with. Roof tiles flew at Orochimaru who dodged them and a snake, coming out of the man's mouth bit the Hokage in the neck. Naruto threw himself into the fight and cut the beast open. He took position on the Hokage's left, with Sasuke. Kakashi stood on Sarutobi's right and revealed his Sharingan eye.

"Don't forget about us please. We'll feel neglected."

The Sannin smirked, until he noticed his victim turning into a mud clone.

Appearing behind his former student, the Hokage launched an earth-fire combination jutsu that seemed to almost blow Orochimaru off of the roof. Orochimaru smirked and was completely unprepared for the kick in the face he received from Sasuke.

"Perhaps it's time to stop fooling around." snarled the Uchiha with a sneer. He had killed Orochimaru once, he could do it again.

Agreeing, both older man discarded their robes to reveal battle gear underneath. After some more small talk, ('And really,' thought Naruto, 'were these old man ever going to fight?') and a barrage of shuriken, courtesy of Sarutobi, Orochimaru made the move they had been waiting for. Seeing the hand signs, Sasuke and Naruto both rushed in, in the hope to stop him from completing the jutsu. Both attacks, a Chidori and a Rasengan respectively were evaded. Cursing they turned back around, but they were to late.

"Kuchiyose: Endo Tensei." (Summoning: Reincarnation of the Impure World)

Three coffins started to appear, but the Hokage and Kakashi each managed to stop one from rising. Kakashi panted lightly, rarely having used his Sharingan to this extend. Only one coffin remained, and it was slowly opening. The first Hokage, Senju Hashirama stepped out. Sarutobi grimaced, appalled at what his student was capable of doing.

"Alright, who do you want to fight, sensei?" asked Naruto cockily. "I want the first Hokage."

"Naruto." reprimanded Kakashi frowning.

"Can you, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage warily.

"Leave it to us, we'll be done in no time." reassured Sasuke.

"You two." sighed their sensei.

"Such arrogance. While I do not wish to fight in what seems to be an invasion of my village, I do not think I'll get much of a choice. Prepare yourself, and do not underestimate me."

A kunai with a seal attached was stuck in the back of the dead man's head. Once the seal took effect, the Shodaime rushed towards his successor. Naruto intercepted him with a punch aimed at his face that the man dodged. Sasuke latched on to him, Sharingan blazing, and together they pulled him away from their Hokage. Knowing he couldn't stay back and enjoy the show, Orochimaru engaged both Sarutobi and Kakashi in a fierce taijutsu battle.

"Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Koutan." (Secret tree element technique: Birth of the trees.)

And just like that, practically out of nowhere, a forest sprouted from the roof top. Branches grew quickly to envelop both genin. Naruto just smiled widely at the man, who honestly looked as if he thought the blond was mad. Channelling his chakra into the branches, Naruto used the water inside them to free him and Sasuke and at the same time trap the Shodai Hokage in the same trap. Without pausing and with perfect teamwork, Sasuke launched his most powerful fire jutsu at the man, made stronger because as soon as Naruto had trapped Hashirama, he had extracted the water out of the wood, leaving nothing behind but dry firewood.

Caught off guard, and who wouldn't be after the kid had used his own secret jutsu like it was nothing, Hashirama stumbled. Not one to let such an opening slip, Sasuke slashed open the Hokage's head, grabbed the seal, yanked it out, and threw it into the fire.

"It seems I'm the one who underestimated my opponent." smiled the First Hokage. "Thank you."

Naruto tried smiling at the man when he replied but it might have become more of a grimace. Half of the man's face was missing, for goodness sake.

"You're welcome."

And with that Senju Hashirama's body dissolved.

"Talk about anti-climax." muttered Naruto. "This fight barely lasted five minutes."

"Idiot, it's only because I studied the Edo Tensei jutsu for years that I know how to disactivate it. We were lucky."

"Same thing." Shrugged Naruto. "Let's go see how sensei and the old man are doing."

Sasuke nodded and they made their way through the trees towards the sound of fighting.

"Still busy? Man, they sure are getting old." joked the blond.

"Che."

However what he saw made his heart stand still. He gasped, and everything around him seemed to slow down. Seeing Orochimaru headed for Kakashi, while the man was busy blocking an incoming attack from one of Orochimaru's clones that was going to stab the Hokage in the back, was like being back in a nightmare. Without thinking, he moved at a speed he had never moved before. He barely saw as Orochimaru summoned Kusanagi from inside his stomach before it was plunged straight into his chest. Snarling in anger, Orochimaru twisted the sword around, creating a completely round whole in a place that could not possibly have missed his heart.

Shocked, Kakashi turned around and instinctively cradled the blond to his chest. Naruto vaguely heard Sasuke's scream of rage, together with the Hokage's call of his name, before the sounds of battle resumed, more fierce than before. At that moment, he only had eyes for Kakashi, whose face was inches away from his. The jounin's eyes were wide and he saw tears gathering in them. A shimmer passed over the blond's body and the genjutsu was released. Now it was his older self that lay dying in his lover's arms. Naruto smiled.

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"I... I couldn't watch you... die again." explained Naruto while blood started dripping from his mouth. "I'm so-sorry."

He softly pressed his lips against Kakashi's before and saw the man's eyes - both of them - widen almost dramatically, before darkness claimed him.

TBC


	20. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is the next chapter. It's not the longest I have written but it is on time!
> 
> This chapter is beta'ed by Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for your hard work.

When Naruto regained conscious, he didn't immediately open his eyes. He was lying in a soft bed and he hurt everywhere. Focusing inwards, he noticed Kyuubi's chakra was still healing him, hence the pain he felt. Frowning, he tried to remember what happened. Images flashed before his eyes briefly and sighed softly. He heard a door open and opened his eyes.

"Finally awake?" The Uchiha heir smiled softly as he closed the door behind him. "You've been unconscious for almost two weeks."

"T-two weeks." croaked Naruto surprised.

"You worried everyone." confirmed Sasuke.

Naruto averted his gaze. "What happened?"

"You died. You were dead for about five minutes before Kyuubi managed to restart your heart." snapped Sasuke with a glare.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." muttered Naruto.

"You had better be!" With a last glare, Sasuke sighed. "It would be a waste of time to make you promise never to that again. You're too rash, Naruto."

The blond could only grin sheepishly.

"Anyway, Orochimaru was killed – Hokage-sama, sensei and I finished him off. While Kakashi and I watched you dying, Hokage-sama managed to seal Orochimaru to his current body meaning he couldn't leave it in any way. Then Kakshi-sensei blew his heart out with a Chidori and I got him in his head. There is not much left of him."

"That's a relief."

"Indeed. Currently everyone is busy repairing the damage that was done. Gaara, as you know, went to help with the snake summons that breached the walls. In the end, very few casualties on our side. It ended well."

"I am glad. How is Kakashi?"

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei." sighed Sasuke.

"What? What happened?"

Seeing the blond working himself into a small panic attack, Sasuke hit him on the head.

"Let me finish my sentence, idiot. Kakashi-sensei wasn't hurt. However, he clearly worried about you. You should have seen him when we all thought you had died in his arms. While he still leaves us waiting for him before training, he doesn't visit the memorial stone anymore. He's spending that time in this room since the invasion. He should arrive soon, since we were supposed to meet him for training half an hour ago."

As if he knew they were talking about him, Kakashi entered the room and Naruto was greeted with a sight he hadn't seen before. Kakashi was clearly speechless, staring shocked at the blonde.

"You are awake." Naruto smiled softly.

Sasuke gave his hand a squeeze and silently left the room, leaving the two alone.

"I'm sorry I worried you." Kakashi approached the bed and grabbed Naruto's hand. Reassuring the other, Naruto squeezed. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi sat down.

"You died. For me. Why?"

Hesitatingly looking at his crush, Naruto decided to answer honestly. "I've seen you die once, taking a blow to protect me. I couldn't watch you die again."

Tears welled in his eyes but he couldn't look away. Suddenly arms enveloped him and he was gently pulled against a firm chest. His eyes widened. Kakashi was … hugging him?

Unwilling to believe it, he was a bit late in hugging the man back, but it didn't seem to bother the jounin.

"Don't ever do that again." Muttered Kakashi. Naruto just smiled, not saying anything. He knew if the situation called for it, he would do exactly the same again.

x-x-x-x-x-x

It took another week, before they let him out of the hospital. Well, it took a day before Naruto was sick and tired of the hospital and tried to escape. It took a whole week of this before they let him be and didn't chase him to lock him back up in his own personal prison. Sure his friends, team, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi and even the Hokage came visiting, but he had never liked hospitals. And he had seen his medical files. It was only Sandaime's orders that kept him there. He had been physically healed th day after he woke up. It was probably jiji's revenge for worrying him. With the whole dying thing…

Anyway, a week had past and he was once again a free man. Kakashi-sensei had promised to take him out when he was discharged, so now he was walking with the man through the park where he used to play as a kid after ramen. Again, Naruto had chosen to not wear the genjutsu bracelet meaning he once again looked like he was in his late teens. There hadn't been much talk during dinner and now they had completely fallen silent.

It was a bit awkward. Kakashi seemed as relaxed as always but Naruto was a bit nervous. Was this a date? Had Kakashi figured out Naruto loved him? Why didn't the man say something? Unable to endure the silence, Naruto broke it with a question.

"Sensei, … ano, the day of the exams. I noticed you arrived early. Was there a reason? I half expected you to come late, as usual." Grinned Naruto sheepishly, hand behind his head.

"I wanted to see you in the exam... And Sasuke-kun blackmailed me."

"Eeeh!?"

"He promised to tell me the name of your lover, if I came on time." Said the scarecrow nonchalantly.

"And did he tell you? Or did you figure it out on your own?" asked Naruto shyly.

"He didn't tell me." Pouted the man.

Naruto laughed a bit, to nervous to enjoy the face his sensei was pulling.

"Have you been leaving me hints?"

A violent twitch appeared just above his left eye.

"I think nearly dying because I didn't want to see you hurt is a big hint." Replied Naruto sarcastically.

A hand gently grabbed his chin and raised his face towards Kakashi's. The man had a soft look in his eyes, a look Naruto hadn't dared hope to ever see again.

"I had hoped it was me."

"It always has been."

"Say it."

Their faces slowly inched closer. Naruto's fingers played with the hem of Kakashi's mask, not yet pulling it down, but giving Kakashi enough time to make him stop.

"I love you, Hatake Kakashi."

Immediately pulling the mask down, he closed the last few inched between them and kissed Kakashi full on the lips.

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review and let me know what you think! :D


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